"Then, what have you got in mind?" I said, running like the wind.
"First of all, we need to take inventory."
Aww, what? What inventory is there to take, dude? We've got like three things on us in total, and that's counting you, might I add!
"Don't look at me like that." He frowned, "Fact is, we've got plenty of items we can make use of, but naming them off properly might allow us to get a better grasp of the possible synergies between them."
"Synergies, huh..." I humoured in, "In that case, excluding you of course, we have—the pickaxe, a walkie talkie, my clothes, and that's it."
He was very much disappointed by the results, "Eh, so little?"
"What did you expect? Contrary to popular belief, women don't have extra compartments embedded within their bodies."
"I never thought... Ugh, it's just I forgot the Gods took your Flasher." He sighed, "I didn't mean anything bad by what I said."
"Now who's out here throwing around jokes. Didn't you say they were banned?" I squinted, "The Gods are using the Flasher to keep Sheep from waking up, that's what you-"
...said. That's it! Eureka, I found the solution! That's right, those Two are spamming the Flasher right in Sheep's face to keep him from potentially breaking free! But given that they're already under a ton of stress to just carry such a heavy body of purely golden wings and Eyes around, then they must have their hands full with the Flasher as well! In other words, if we could just smack the Flasher away for a bit, then Sheep will have woken up!
"Energy!" I energetically explained, "Our target's the Flasher!"
"Mnn, so that's how you wanna go about it..." He chuckled, "Certainly, removing it from their arsenal would put a stop to their plans."
"Right?!"
Actually, now that I got the idea, everything really does seem to be falling into place perfectly! They're humans, so their ears and Eyes are human too. If they're consistently Flashing Sheep while they're carrying him, then they're inadvertedly Flashing themselves as well. Mind you, they probably thought about that accordingly and are utilizing the shrugging strategy Energy taught me to minimize the effects, but with so many frequent uses, some are bound to fail. Hell, even if they don't, it still means their Eyes are constantly closed and ears constantly covered. Effectively, we've got a huge advantage over them!
"Wow, before I was kind of nervous about the whole ordeal, but now things look so easy in comparison..." I smiled warmly, "We can do this, I know that now for sure!"
Still, with Energy being Energy and all, obviously he had some smug things to say when it came to being right.
"Ahem, I do believe you owe preparation an apology." He smugly insinuated, "Without it, you would have never come to this conclusion. A fly without its head."
"Somehow, I feel like that analogy only works in your mother tongue..." I scowled.
Though, I have to admit that he's not wrong. Really, organising my thoughts so neatly like this makes finding opportunities way easier. Looking back, my original plan was probably to just bust in cops and robbers style and dropkick the first God I saw, but chances are that wouldn't exactly pan out as I'd hope for it to. Ah, speaking of, we've reached the Abode already.
"What are you doing?" Energy asked, "Why'd you stop in front of the doors?"
"Gimme... a break!" I huffed and puffed, "Lemme catch my breath, this damned yard is bigger than a golf course!"
Just then, a loud, high-pitched screeching sound could be heard just from the other side of the large doors. Not good, another factor we didn't account for—the Gods' Abode is large and highly acoustic, so each and every Flash will be as if it's right in your ear, regardless of where in the room you are. What now...?
"Hrmm..." Energy mulled it over for a bit, "I'm not affected by it."
I replied, "Yeah, too bad you don't have a body, though."
"But you do."
"Huh?"
What's he thinking of doing now?
"Put me up to your ear. Cover the other one with your remaining hand." He instructed, "Use my brain as a sound muffler and close your Eyes. I'll guide you on what to do ne-"
"Eugh, God, no!" I gagged, "You crazy!? I'm not putting your slimy, wrinkly surface anywhere near my head, much less practically inside it! Think of a better solution!"
"Well maybe if we had thought about this sooner, we would already HAVE a better solution!"
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"Don't go blaming it on me again!"
Bickering like rabid dogs, we ended up having to do it his way. Begrudgingly, I put Energy on my shoulder and pressed my ear to him, like one would a telephone. At the same time, I used my newly freed up offhand to cover my other ear before closing my Eyes. Like this, I was nothing more than a pickaxe-swinging arm and a pair of legs. Sort of a morbid fusion, but hey, desperate times.
"Okay." I said once more for good measure, "Once I open the door, I'm putting all of my faith into you."
"That's what I wanna hear." He whispered gently into my ear.
"Gah! Speak normally!"
He sounded confused, "Eh? But won't it be too loud for you?"
"You're worried about the wrong things, dammit. Now shut up and guide me to Sheep!"
A loud affirmation struck me directly from one side.
"Aye aye!" He yelled out.
O-Ow, that's actually pretty loud... Well, it's better than hearing this old bag of bones' ASMR session...
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I slammed open the doors, "This is the police! We have you surrounded!"
"Huh??" Pry turned around.
"I said, we have you-!"
"Ehh???" He repeated, "Speak up, we can't hear you!"
"Then stop spamming that damned Flasher!" Energy yelled, further damaging my right ear.
Alas, Selz kept incessantly releasing the Flasher's mechanism, his Eyes closed and shoulders shrugged to minimize the damage. Sheep was there as well, dragged on the ground like a dead animal between the two Gods. Thanks to our earlier planning we did, I knew exactly what had to be done. I dashed to Selz first and foremost, surprising them with the rather unorthodox choice.
"Hah!" I whacked the Flasher right out of his hand, its metallic body coasting down the marble floor.
"That's a shame." He merely shrugged, dropping Sheep as soon as he was freed from the duty, "Pry, step aside."
"What??" He kept shouting.
Sounds to me like Pry's been out of the game a long time ago. Hm, but now that I think about it, didn't this go a bit 'too' much according to plan? Let's see, I knocked away the Flasher from Selz, so Sheep should be waking up soon. Well, now that Selz can't blind or deafen us anymore, I might as well stop pressing Energy up into my ear like this...
"O-Oi, stop that!" Energy protested.
"It's hard to move like this." I scoffed back, "Plus there's no reason to hold this stupid position anymore."
"Just trust me, whatever you do—don't uncup your ears." He warned, "And close those Eyes, descendant. Remember, I'll be guiding your every move from now on. Don't go stepping out of line."
Ugh, but me stepping out of line gave us a huge advantage! Why make things harder on ourselves when there's no need? Look, the second Sheep wakes up, we've won. It's really that simple, the Gods can't do anything anymore.
"Fine." I did as I was told, "Now what?"
"Pry is ten meters to your left, not a threat." He explained.
"I saw him standing there a second ago, moron."
"Then, Selz is running towards you at full speed with the intent to knock you down."
"Eh!? You should've said that firs-!"
Immediately, whiplash struck me as I tumbled back to the marble floor, my neck hurting from having to squeeze Energy between my shoulder and cheek. Thankfully I did, too, 'cause I don't think I would have been ready for what was coming even if I had my Eyes open.
"Roll left!" Sheep shouted.
Like clockwork, due to the minute distance between his orders and my mind, there was absolutely no delay in my execution. Such reaction time would be impossible to achieve even among the most trained athletes, yet I somehow accomplished it in that moment.
"Hmph. So that's your strategy?" Selz chuckled, "By joining forces, you aim to achieve the same level of physicality as your friend Elegy."
Due to my ears being cupped from both sides, I didn't actually hear that in his voice, though. This was all being sensed by Energy, who in turn would relay the information back to me. Quite literally, I was now functioning with two brains effectively within one body.
"We're really the same as Elegy like this!?" I got all giddy hearing that.
"I'd say we're even better." Energy smirked.
"Pish, not at all. That one man has something both of you lack..." Selz's words echoed.
Energy warned me ahead of time, "He's getting ready for another attack, prepare yourself."
Left, right, up, down, all around... The attacks came in quick succession from one another, and the commands were even quicker. Thankfully, this strategy worked like a charm, as not one hit actually connected. Selz's human body was starting to reach its limit after so much strain had been put on it for so long, which came in clutch for me, because I was reaching my own limit too. Focusing not only on the attacks which were just barely grazing me, but also listening in on Energy's orders became very tiring very quickly. Eventually, the orders came to a halt, indicating Selz was talking to us.
"This body..." Energy relayed to me his words, "It's well past its use... Oh, how I loathe this humanity so..."
"Why hate your own creation? Is this your attempt at getting pity out of us?" I shook my fist at him, my Eyes firmly shut.
"Don't you worry, for humanity loves me." He snickered back, "Without me, you would have never had the Knowledge to plan ahead."
...What's he on about?
"The Knowledge to kick away the Flasher." He kept going, "The Knowledge to remain connected and blind as you were, to forfeit your own Eyes and ears for your own sake... and mine."
"Energy, what's he doing now?" I felt my voice quiver, expecting the worst.
"...Oh no!" Energy realized, albeit far too late, "Migu, dive forward right now!"
"H-Huh!?" I hesitated for a split second.
"Now, do it now!"
I failed. Though I did eventually jump forward and knock Selz down to the floor, he had already accomplished what he had set out to do. Truth was, there was absolutely no way for me to keep Energy perched between my head and shoulder after the dive, so I had to actually rely on my own Eyes and ears from now on. This is also the reason I hesitated back there. Alas, the moment I opened my Eyes, I was met with a gruesome, bone-chilling, horrifying smile from the Knowledge God.
"What did I tell you?" He dangled the Flasher mere centimeters in front of my face, "Hugging me so tightly after I said I hate you? Humans really do love me..."
"Crap-!"
I tried to break free, but there was no way out. Because we were on the ground, I could neither spring back to my feet nor push him away. A blinding White Flash knocked me out immediately, the loud buzzing from the device impairing my hearing to a blurry, muffled mess. The last thing I saw was Selz's cheeky grin as he ripped the golden pickaxe away from my arms. After that, I blacked out.