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Great Minds Think As One

In the safety of his apartment, the mind mage sits cross-legged, athletic form still fully dressed in his uniform. His eyes closed, he calls out silently, wordlessly, to the Companion he shared his body with. Despite the intensely hostile nature of their first encounter, they had long since reached an accord. And in that trust, Enigma has even been willing to grant his partner total control of their vessel, if for only the moments he has been fast asleep.

While that worked for them and still does, the pair arrived at an intriguing question: Mind melding was an old tradition, that mages before him had already studied. The arcane art allowed two individuals to think and act as one, albeit temporarily. What might happen then, if those two individuals were possessed of only one body.

It is this question that they sought to answer together. Breathing slowly, steadily, Enigma emptied his mind, allowing his thoughts to flow through him like a river, while his Companion did the same. And in that state, with Enigma’s magic channeling through them, they felt the tug of their minds coming together, weaving seamlessly into each other, forming a gestalt. Their melding complete, the new entity forged from their union began to realize that with symbiotic matter, and his innate mastery of it his half-symbiote mind afforded him, the body was actually a plaything of the mind.

So he sculpted himself anew, removing the vest and tunic of his uniform so that he could observe the process of tendril bonding tightly to muscle and sinew, forging his form leaner and stronger, beyond what should have been possible. Though nowhere near as bulky as his apprentice, he could see abdominals pop into place. It was a form built for endurance more than raw power, which suited him just fine. The wolfkin-half of him was always more a man of finesse than brute force anyway, and his newfound stamina suited the hunter’s instinct he inherited from the Companion.

With that, for the first time, the two became one. The gestalt entity knew he wouldn’t last. Eventually, his two halves would fall out of sync and return to their base state. But for a time, it was enough for him to be whole, for their partnership to transcend beyond mere host and symbiote.

This piece from Marsel-Defender back in April of 2024, served as a perfect opportunity to discuss the nature of the bond between Enigma and Companion. Though I don’t practice anywhere near as much as I should, I understand the value of meditation and I frequently take up YCHs that depict my characters doing it.

And as you might expect from someone who pretends to be a mind mage on the internet, I enjoy playing around with minds and personalities. Doubly so when the participants are willing and the change is largely positive. It’s why Perfect Bond came into existence in the first place.

Though the symbiote timeline is no longer canon, I think enjoy this aspect of it.