Cause and Plan (Combined)

"Good my ass!"

Viola's fury burned in her eyes like tangible flames.

She lunged before Starfall, utterly ignoring her translucent, drifting soul state, and raised a hand to slap Starfall hard across the head.

Though her palm passed through those illusory strands of hair, the fierce mental impact and furious intent clinging to it were transmitted solidly nonetheless.

"How could you possibly be fine?! Where's your body?! Where did it go?! What stupid thing did you do?!" Viola's roar echoed through the spacious, wrecked laboratory, making the surviving instruments around them buzz.

"Ow!"

Starfall let out an exaggerated cry of pain. Though she was clearly a soul, that slap truly knocked her off balance. Her whole "body" wobbled, then with a plop, fell from midair onto a relatively intact experiment table below.

That ethereal, otherworldly aura of a soul instantly shattered into pieces.

She "floated" up from the ground in embarrassment, rubbing the nonexistent back of her head, her face a mix of awkwardness and guilt.

"Well... ahem, I got carried away." Starfall's voice was still crisp, but it had lost that hollow echoing quality and gained a touch of worldly, ingratiating warmth.

"In the final stage of animating the plane, the intensity of the spiritual backlash exceeded even my most optimistic estimate... My physical body couldn't take it and was 'digested' as ignition fuel and foundational structure."

"Luckily, Wizard Clark arrived in time. He forcibly stabilized my soul core and helped me sort out my connection with this newborn plane consciousness. Otherwise, I might really have gone down this time, becoming this big idiot's 'built-in intelligent management system,' or simply being assimilated."

She floated over to Clark and struck a pose that said, I owe it all to the big boss protecting me.

Then she turned to Viola and