Isaac "Izzy" Horn turned away from the crowd annoyed, the most out in the open transform he could think of, where the marks hadn't even been wearing costumes, and these idiots still found a way to bury their heads in the sand!
Coyote said in Izzy's head, 'People will mentally jump backwards through flaming hoops as long as they don't have to face something that would obliterate their fundamental concept of reality. Why do you think people will hold dear to their party leader than admit BOTH SIDES are lying out their rear?'
Maybe he could find some nerds playing Monsters and Mazes, and transform them into their characters and THAT would finally tip someone off at what was going on! Assuming Coyote hadn't rigged the game from the start and all the humans WERE outright enchanted to accepted ANYTHING they saw as anything BUT magic. Well, if they thought it was alien invaders or a secret government plot, that would at least get people to finally sound the alarm that something wasn't right. But what could they even tell the police? People were turning into their costumes? The police would just laugh at them. He wondered if there was even a way to win, or if Coyote was just enjoying him squirm under an illusion of free will.
"This is so unfair!" Laura said.
"I know, it should have been obvious to everyone."
And another thing occurred to Izzy, shouldn't people overhearing them of slowly pieced something together? Even if they thought it was just roleplaying (ugh!), maybe Izzy could use that? Still, if he just said something like were going to kidnap Tobias King (the millionaire who had upped the prize money in the first place), that'd get the police's attention, but that might make Coyote decide to stop playing and start zapping everyone rather than people fleeing before the prizes were handed out. No, Coyote clearly wanted a game, as long as Izzy kept transforming people, he'd keep playing, he just needed a way to use that against Coyote and win!
"No that's not what I meant!" Laura said. "Teir2Tater and CampyAndy."
"Who?" Izzy asked.
"The games we just say turn into Saint Katrina and Lord Lupine!"
"Oh. Sorry. Just thinking." Izzy had already forgotten their names. "It's no more unfair than what's happened to everyone else."
"But they worked for possibly YEARS of their lives to get to the finals! Hundreds of hours to master those games.-"
'Sounds like their lives were already wasted,' Izzy thought.
"-And it was just stolen from them because of some aliens or something. Even if we somehow figure out what's going on, the Con-Viction might just say 'wasn't our fault' and ignore them so they don't have to admit they made a mistake. Again, it's such a... cheat."
Izzy shrugged. "Well, not much we can do about it."
A part of him just wanted out of this space, his enhanced senses could pick up the sweat and grim from all these unwashed apes, all their hollered and lewd comments under their breath, and this dark hot room just made it worse.
"I wish there was," Laura whispered.
Coyote thought, 'Ahhhh, now she's making me feel guilty.'
'Is that a joke?! You are turning people into things they innocently (and not so innocently) dressed up as for fun, and you feel sorry about two video game no-lifers not having their live-styles justified?'
'Haven't you been paying attention? Tis but a game. I like games. And now that she's brought it up, I can't ignore these poor folks' game being ruined.'
'I can practically see the string on your halo.'
'I never said I wasn't gonna have some fun with it kiddo! Don't worry, I'm not gonna set her up for failure or something, but it's been a while since I've been looked up to. And I don't quiet trust your acting skills.'
And just like that, Izzy felt himself being pushed aside as Coyote sat himself in the driver's seat and all Izzy could do was watch.
'Do you have any idea how much I hate this?' Izzy demanded mentally.
'Oh more than you can imagine," Coyote thought back.
"Hey, Ishna," Coyote said through Izzy.
"Ishna is the name of my fursona, but thank you, yes?" Laura said to Coyote's 'accident.'
"You said you were a powerful shaman with lots of different magical powers right?" 'Izzy' asked.
"My fursona was."
"But you ARE your fursona now, right, Ishna? You certainly don't LOOK like a Laura anymore. And you already proved to have ability by sensing the magic in the kitsune and me, even I'm not really sure what that costume was supposed to even be of, I mean, just look at how plain and generic this form is. Not like you. You're -beautiful- Ishna. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck."
"I... I hadn't really thought about that before." Laura somehow blushed through her fur.
"I mean, whose to say you're not Ishna with Laura's memories? You're everything Laura WANTED to be right?"
"I didn't consider that either..." Laura looked a bit lost in thought.
'Gaslighting her? Just when I thought you couldn't sink lower.'
'Who said I was lying?'
'Oh I believe you Inventor of Lying.'
'Even Thomas Edison turned the light bulb off some time.'
"So if you have magical powers, you should be able to use them like Laura said you'd be able to."
"But I, but Laura didn't puts lots of design into those, into my-"
'Izzy' took Laura's hands and looked her in the eyes. "It's in you, it's part of you, it is you. You were born from Laura's desire to be more confident, not afraid, embarrassed. I mean, would Laura have been able to have a conversation with a guy this long not wearing a costume without making an excuse to run or clamming up?"
"But I-"
"No, seriously, answer me Ishna, are you wearing a costume? Right now? Honestly."
Laura lowered her head. "No, I'm not."
"Exactly! That magic you sense, you have it too! It is you! It's yours to command!"
"Then... then maybe I can use to fix me? Fix you? Fix everyone else?"
"Maybe. But would that work? Would that be like a snow storm trying to melt itself?"
"... I don't know."
"Then let yourself now. Open yourself up to yourself, your real self. Let it flow into you."
"... I want to but nothing's coming."
"You'll get there eventually. But maybe it is dumb to expect you to absorb it all at once. For now, focus and think, what do you want right now Ishna?"
Laura closed her eyes and thought. "I want to help those two video game players who were robbed of their first and second places because of this cruel whim of fate."
'Izzy' actually cringed slight.
The real Izzy thought, 'Well, as disgusting as it is to see her being strung along like this, her being taught magic SHOULD BE an asset against Coyote, even if he's teaching it for his own schemes.'
"Then THINK Isha, what can be done to fix this? If those two were changed back now, it wouldn't fix anything, people would STILL think they'd cheated and replaced themselves with a couple of stand-ins. That's not the solution. So what is? Those people need to accept that Lord Lupine and Saint Katrina are CampyAndy and Teir2Tater."
"But everyone knows those are fictional characters. Even humans have limits on how much they'll fool themselves. No one is going to vote Robin Hood for Chief, I mean, President."
"True, in stories, readers accept impossibilities before improbabilities, while people will go for the most improbable thing as long it doesn't mean facing something impossible. But that just shows how much malleable the thoughts of people are. How easy they are to turn around. What made them reject the pair?"
"... They... weren't in costume when they began the game!" Laura said in realization.
"So if they remember something that lines up with what they see-"
"They'll eagerly accept that memory as 'real' and not question it!" Laura nodded following along. "But... how could I affect everyone's memories?"
On the stage, there was still discussion going on getting the third place winner the prize money, while also trying to find CampyAndy and Teir2Tater for cheating. Many of their fans feeling betrayed by the players they'd rooted for. Other simply not believing it and thinking the cosplayers had kidnapped them and were already talking to security!
A kidnapping might finally get enough people to notice. And Izzy realized that might have been Coyote's scheme all along.
"All those people looking at the stage still, just get on that stage, and think what you, what the real you, what Isha would do to use her magic?"
"But she'd, I'd never use my magic to alter people's minds."
"Never say never. Is it better to have these people's heroes be destroyed, and to have their hopes and dreams crushed by something random and cruel that isn't anyone fault?"
'No one's fault he says,' Izzy said annoyed.
Laura put a finger to her muzzle, "No it isn't."
Laura ran for the stage, with a body meant for survival in the dark jungle not the concrete jungle. She moved with blistering speed, still carrying her staff, and leapt onto the stage. Shocking everyone.
Naturally the first impulse was for someone to call security. They never got the chance.
Laura began to dance, a memory coming to her of being taught the dance by her mother, the previous shaman, unable to remember if she wrote that part of her backstory or not. Ghostly violet wisps began to follow her around, like an after image. She spun her staff around. The crystal on top glowing. Laura's own eyes glowed as she channeled the ancient powers of her tribe.
The nose of the people died down, even the cameras and screens began to pulse with the violet light, becoming a spiral she spun her staff.
"I am Isha of the crystal fox tribe, by my power, what you hear, you remember. CampyAndy and Teir2Tater came onto stage dressed as their characters. Nothing was wrong with their appearance, they simply had to briefly relive themselves before returning to claim their prizes. Nothing wrong happened. They did not cheat. You hear this, see me, and remember this."
The crowd all mumbled unintelligible agreements.
Two purple wisps flew out, and a bit later, Teir2Tater and CampyAndy returned, marching in lockstep with solid purple glowing eyes, they returned to the stage, and Laura left.
In a minute the glow from equipment and people's eyes faded.
"And welcome back Teir2Tater! Congrats on your victory!" The announcer gave the saintly catgirl her trophy. She struck a 'NYA!' pose and said as much.
"I wanna thank all of you nice humans for supporting me!"
"An honorable victory," CampyAndy bowed, and the crowd cheered and clapped. Including Laura and 'Izzy.'
Laura hugged him, and Izzy suddenly found himself back in control.
"THANK YOU IZZY! You helped them, and helped me realize myself!"
Izzy said, "Er, well! I said that just to get you into the right head-space for using your magic, not that I really thinks you're Isha and Laura is just a memory."
"Oh."
"But it all worked out right?"
"Yes it did, you also gave me plenty to think about, thank you Izzy." She said formally and bowed slightly like, well, a village shaman.
Izzy wondered. 'Is there a way to win? Can a newbie best a chess champ?'
Coyote said, 'Some say facing a amateur is more dangerous than facing a pro, since a pro knows all the moves, while an amateur is unpredictable. Turning the tables on someone who'd put me in an unwinnable situation is something I'd do himself. I wonder if you can outsmart out-smart me... Not that it would be easy.'
'Are you serious, or just saying that so I'll keep wiggling along with false hope?'
'What's hope but courage in the face of uncertainty?'
'... You know, being with Laura, she's so eye catching, no one is even looking at you.'
'Heh, kinda the point kiddo.'
'But is that really fun? Not being part of the game yourself? Shouldn't you be a bit cooler looking?'
'HA! You think anyone WOULDN'T see through that kiddo? But you know what? For actually TRYING to be clever for once with me. I'll let you have this one!'
Laura asked, "Izzy, what are you thinking about?"
"Oh! Sorry!" said 'Izzy.' "I think I've got a trick of my own I just realized. No clue what it's about. But it's worth trying out!"
And red tribal markings appeared all over Izzy fur. Unlike Laura's fursona, Izzy recognized them as being ceremonial marks from his own tribe.
"Amazing!"
"Not really, I just did some body-paint," Izzy said. "Nothing compared to what you just did." Izzy said in total honesty.
"Yes, but it's still something! With the amount of power you have, I'm sure you could fix everything if you could get a handle on it."
"Yeah... here's hoping. I think I can sense where the next change is gonna be."
"Lead the way, teacher," Laura said the last part with a grin, and Izzy couldn't stop himself from letting out one short laugh.
So he aimlessly wandered again, spotting more gamers, animes fans (so many cat girls with impossible breast sizes and fat men in maid uniforms and wigs).
He spotted two blonds, on a bench with their cell phones, taking countless selfies.
One was dressed with long plastic dragonfly wings, and a dress made of giant cloth leaves, and a pair of cheap glowing antennae. And a cheap plastic crown.
The other was in a long green dress with flippers, clam shell brain, and make-up lines along her ribs to simulate gills.
"HEY EVERYONE! It's me Marina and Wendy! We're at the Con-Viction! And it's everything we could dream of! The only thing better is if we were a real fairy princess and mermaid under the sea! But we've got lots of fun to share!"
Izzy narrowed his eyes. First they were livestreaming, or were going to record it and send it later. So that was maybe something that could help. And... he could think of how stupid and childish their wish was. You were supposed to grow out of this sort of thing when you were in grade school! What fun would there be there in ... well, he really didn't see the appeal in either of them! Being tiny? Being water bound? What was the point?
Maybe they were putting on a show for their audience? Well, Izzy would give them a real show!
Even if Coyote wasn't out to teach a lesson, Izzy felt these air-heads needed some taste of reality! Maybe if he outsmarted Coyote, they'd give up these silly fantasies afterwards. After all, Coyote couldn't be the only supernatural force in existence right?
"Over there." He pointed. "Those two are going to change next, I'm sure of it."
'Nice to see you finally getting in the spirit of things a little! Haha!'
Laura looked intently as the pair changed.
Wendy got smaller and smaller, her dressing changing size with her, becoming real leafs. And her wings became part of her body and began to buzz, golden pixie dust began to flake from her wings. Her feelers began to twitch. Her crown became real gold and carefully forged for royalty. But that wasn't all. Her shoes and socks vanishes. Her toes fused together. Her skin turned a pale blue. Her dress became more for decoration than modesty, but she was now nippleless and slitless like a doll. Fairy reproduced by magic after all. Her eyes became larger, becoming a solid brown. Her ears became pointed and larger, and her more wild.
The fairy flutters about confused. She spoke in a voice too tiny for Izzy to hear from here, but he could see her absolute confusion.
"Remote controlled drone, cool?" Some people said, looking a bit shocked when they looked.
As for Marina, she fell straight onto the bench, dropping her phone, the bones in her lower body changing to that of a fish, her feet fusing together and spreading out into a fin. Her scales becoming a part of her body. Marina instantly began to feel more hot and dry. Her clam shell bra looked more worn and didn't change that much. Her skin took on a more faint green tone. Her gills opened and closed. She drew in breath from her smaller lungs. Her blond hair flowed long behind her. But Izzy saw a dorsal fin emerge from her back. Her eyes became solid black for seeing in the near complete blackness of the ocean depths. Webbing formed between her fingers.
Wendy flew down to pick up the phone, but it was like carrying a concrete block. Marina began to pant, it was so hot.
People wondered if she was overheating in her costume, but when she said, "Need water!"
A good Samaritan brought her cup, interpreting it as anyone would.
'Not so perfect now is it?' Izzy thought.
"Oh dear!" Laura said. "Good thing we're here! The poor girl looks like she's suffering!"
Izzy wondered about tell Laura not to draw more attention to herself, he didn't want Coyote getting more into her head by making her 'remember' more magic. Poor girl might really begin to think she really was her fake shaman character and be scared to be returned to normal thinking she'd 'die' or some nonsense.
"They chose their costumes, we didn't. It's not like we're responsible for what's happened to them. They're UNCOMFORTABLE, not SUFFERING."
Laura looked at Izzy, he had given her such good advice before. Maybe he was right here too? Maybe there was no need to interfere? Maybe it was best to simply leave these two be and try to study the magic more from who'd change next? It wasn't like Izzy would give her good advice to help the two gamers and then give her wrong advice later, that would make no sense.
Coyote and vixen were shocked when a little unicorn filly teleported next to the mermaid and fairy. Everyone muttered something about special effects.
"That horse?" Izzy whispered. He didn't even remember the names of the family he'd changed before, it wasn't like he was going to see them again after all, whether he beat Coyote at his own game or not.
"You know her?"
"Not really, her family was one of those with the really great costumes I saw acting strange."
Then the stallion unicorn teleported next to her.
"Ellen, stop teleporting like that, I don't want us ending up in a zoo!"
Ellen bowed to her father. "Sorry dad, but this mermaid really needs help."
The fairy buzzed around the unicorn's heads.
"Yes, we'll help her," Ellen said, her horn glowed, and comforting mist formed around the mermaid. Marina looked better at once.
'Kid is a natural, maybe I should've mentored her instead, but I have a thing for canines,' Thought Coyote. 'Parents couldn't beat my price, I teach magic for free!'
"Hank is everything okay?" The big green non-anthro dragoness landed. People were in awe at the special effects. Some recording everything on their cell phones.
"Ellen just wanted to help someone Giana," said the unicorn. "Where's Vincent?"
"He's flying around everywhere. I think he loves the pictures everyone is taking of him," explained the dragoness.
"Maybe we should approach them? More heads are better than one after all," Laura said.
"We don't really have anything to tell them yet," Izzy said. Then again, maybe their combined magical sense COULD sense Coyote? Maybe he'd gotten close enough to the saint catgirl he could fix something.
Close by a familiar brown furred five-tailed kitsune was sitting at an open bar with a woman wearing regular close and a red fox ears headband to get the 'In Costume Get Free Side Dish or Drink'. Her eyes glowed gold, as did the woman's, his tails engulfed her, and when they pulled away, there was a anime style as anime could be impossibly busty fox woman maid whose uniform covered... not really anything, but thankfully her fur kept her modesty.
"Master, I am ready to serve," she bowed.
"Nice magic trick!" Said the bartender.
"Thanks! Just figured out! I'm a shoe in for the performance contests."
"A pleasure to aid you Master," said the fox maid.
"Nice to hear that Redda," said the kitsune proudly.
"Yes Master, my name is Redda." Redda said.
"Marlene, you in here?" Called a younger looking lady.
"Ah little sister Mary, would you like to meet my Master?" Ask Redda with a smile.
Izzy and Laura looked at each other. "Seems we have bigger fish to fry right now." Izzy said.
"Indeed," Laura said.
'Oh, NOW you care about other people.'
'Like you do.'
'Well, remember you're on the clock still even when playing hero.'
'I'll change the bar tender into whatever perverse degenerate anime character he's playing on his smart phone when I'm done!'
'That's a promise,' said Coyote.