Nick was by no means surprised that the Mirror Dakota didn't accept his reasoning. However, the fact that their problems were physical in nature rather than mental or emotional was a big hint as to what those troubles were. He didn't appear physically disabled in any immediately noticeable way, so it was probably some sort of medical condition or disease that didn't present outwardly visible symptoms. Of course, that left about seven fucktillion different things that it could be anyway, but Nick wasn't all that concerned about the details right now, on account of the violence being inflicted on Mirror Dakota by their giant walking punching dispenser.

Honestly, that was really satisfying to watch. Nothing against Dakota Prime, but the Mirror version was a dickhead, so this was fine. Dakota Prime taking up arms against his Mirror Entity was a bit unexpected, but hey, fight the power, right? Nick was about to hype himself up to get a follow-up in when he saw the Mirror Dakota grab the swinging mic stand with a single hand and stop it with little difficulty. That definitely killed the mood for him, Nick stopping and watching in a mixture of confusion, fear, and existential dread as the Mirror Dakota surged forward, choking the Prime with a motherfucking eagle talon!

The Mirror Monster turned to them as it manhandled the real Dakota without a care in the world, lecturing them on why Dakota was apparently a whiny baby or something. To be quite honest, Nick wasn't exactly 100% focusing on the words coming out of the Eagle Monster Dude's mouth, instead trying to comprehend the transformation. Watching the prison guards, faceless beings for all intents and purposes, transform was one thing, but to see a doppelganger of their companion partially transform into a monster was digging further into Nick's already-fragile mental state. For a moment, he just...stood there, processing the information in front of him.

It was about the time that Dakota started talking back that his brain was roughly rebooted, and Nick realized that he definitely missed some Tragic Backstory Material (TM), what with Dakota refuting the idea that he was using Nick and Vincent. Using them for what exactly? To feel better about himself for being a Nice Guy? For some sort of protection because of his problem (Nick vaguely recalled hearing something about a lung in there)?

Nah, not important. What was important was Dakota getting yeeted back over by the big guy, and Nick responded by quickly dashing to them and offering a hand alongside Vincent. Once Dakota was up and they were able to watch the thing's further transformation, Nick forced himself not to think about exactly what the fuck was going on around him right now, and focus on surviving it.

Dakota called out the lighting fixtures forced Nick to look at the thing and really take it in. Feline legs (Nick was enough of a cat lover to tell that much), feathered body, talons, wings, and a tail. It was like a Gryffon. A fucking mythical creature. Like the Cerberus they'd seen before. Ironically, that actually made this easier to comprehend than the weird lion-wheel things. His brain could categorize this as a fantasy creature he was familiar with.

Taking a moment to follow Vincent towards the back of the stage, he saw the larger man grab a mic with a long cord. Getting the idea, Nick decided to do the exact opposite and grab a guitar that he could use to put a little distance between himself and the creature. Running back to Dakota, Nick gave his fellow student a nod.

"I think the big guy's got a plan. Let's, uh...let's not die."

Not his best work, really, but uh. Brain no do word good, alright?

Caelum scoffed incredulously at the priest’s speech. “We may be lost, but we don’t belong here,” he stated derisively. The whole place was a hellhole, regardless of how grandly gilded the cathedral and courthouse happened to be.

Barney was also infuriated with his lookalike – rightfully so. As he challenged the dream double, the latter always had some twisted answer ready. When Barney sought support from his companions, Caelum obliged. “He’s clearly deranged,” he said with a shake of his head and a frown.

However, there was one point during the conversation where Barney – the real one – exhibited an eerie resemblance to the evil copy. They both believed the thing about others needing help more than either of them did. Is it a coincidence? Why is the double even trying to convince him? Maybe he’s just trying to drive us all crazy…

Caelum didn’t get to find out. The double seemed to give in with suspicious ease, and then – transformed. Fuck, not again! He dashed behind one of the shrines as soon as the monster emerged. Its attention was not on him, though, but rather on Barney. It slashed at him with a huge claw, sending him flying straight into an offering wagon.

Caelum stared at the fallen student, frozen. He wasn’t dead…right? No, there was definitely some small movement there. But if it goes after him again…

Too afraid of being responsible for another’s death, Caelum acted. He ran towards Barney, weaving between shrines and offerings as he could. There was no way the monster wouldn’t notice, but at least it wouldn’t have a clear path towards him.

When he made it to the crash site, Caelum began clearing off the debris. “Shit, get up, you can’t stay down,” he muttered.
Among the collapsed trinkets, there were several that caught his eye. Desperation drove him to make a smile pile of what could be useful – candle holders, dishes, small sculptures. Even the broken off wood could do in a pinch. “This isn’t enough,” he sighed despondently. “What else?” Skewer it with wood? Not if I can help it...

His gaze stopped at a nearby statue. Most of them stood next to a wall but not all. “Think we could get it to crash into one of those? The Atlas one maybe,” he whispered to Barney. The only other idea he had was to use fire, but that was surely inadvisable.

Whatever they decided, the monster wouldn’t just stand around waiting. In case it decided to come close, Caelum searched the remains of the wagon. Several pieces looked promising, but he took one of the wooden boards. One end was whole, but the other jagged, serrated, and kind of pitiful if he was being honest. The thing was unwieldy, but Caelum hoped it could both deflect the insect-man or maybe get in a hit or two. He was crouched next to the small pile of semi-useful stuff, ready to start chucking them at the mantis as soon as it came within throwing distance.

^{? ? cell block : ? ? hours}
It spoke. That red-eyed being that Harriette couldn't tell if it was monster or man, or both, just started speaking to them. She supposed it was better than immediately attacking. Harriette stayed put right where she was, half curled in on herself, coiled tight like a spring, as it approached. It looked like another corpse, though instead of being burnt and charred it was torn and bloody... and moving. It was actually chiding them.

Harriette narrowed her eyes. Mounting confusion, fear, and frustration was beginning to take it's toll. Her head was pounding. And just what did this thing think it knew about her anyway? Though she wanted to refute it's words, her throat was dry and she couldn't seem to muster her voice. It was probably the hundredth time since they'd bee dropped into this world that Harriette wondered to herself about just what the hell was going on and what was going to happen to them when she felt the bars at her back give way.

She stumbled slightly, catching herself before she fell over. A glance over her shoulder showed that the interior of the cell had changed. Significantly.

She looked forward again, pale and worried, at the ashen bodies slowly getting to their feet. Both Jin and the red-eyed being told them to run, and though sore and exhausted Harriette heeded their instruction. She, Alina, and Jin took off, away from the danger as fast as they could go. But they were flagging, and as they moved the area twisted and grew confusing. Harriette's eyes were constantly on the move, checking every mysterious doorway and paradoxical stairwell that appeared around them.

Where were they supposed to run to? What were they supposed to do? Before the situation overwhelmed her, Harriette tried to put her brain into overdrive and think of someway out. While the three of them ran she breathlessly voiced what little thoughts she had. "We can't... keep running forever. If we can duck into somewhere, just get a chance to... to think of a plan..."

Unbeknownst to Harriette, while Alina and Jin were contemplating splitting up for various reasons, the red haired teaching assistant was growing all the more desperate to keep everyone together. She considered trying to navigate the stair ways, or try to barricade a door somehow - even turning to fight the burnt up monsters, hoping they were still as fragile as they were while they were lying prone. If only they were presented with some kind of opportunity..!

In desperation Barney hoped that by the time he opened his eyes, he would be staring at the wooden ceiling of the gazebo on Stoutland Pier, or maybe that of his dorm room. Already he’d endured not just the shock of witnessing this messed-up netherworld, with its brutish guards and horrific prisoner abuse, but also the attack of the demonic creatures at the hand of the university president’s lunatic doppelganger. Add to that the trauma of getting gaslit and psychoanalyzed by his own evil twin, only to watch it become a twisted conglomerate of scuttling insect legs, and it was really getting to be too much.

If only that meant that Barney’s sudden collision with the cart of offerings didn’t hurt so bad. Thanks to both the force of the abomination’s claws and his own weight, he plowed through both its tribute and its solid wood construction before coming to a most uncomfortable rest, his body awash in pain. He didn’t need (or want) to look himself over to tell it was bad, and as if all the bruises, slashes, and punctures weren’t enough, the smashed jugs of sacrificial wine among the keepsakes and riches left him a dripping mess. Worse still, when cracked open his eyes he could see that thing, that repulsive mockery that claimed to be him. A part of him reacted on impulse, wanting to run, fight, anything, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. Another part of him, louder and clothed in logic, told him that this nightmare was fast, that the doors were locked, all sorts of sensible reasons why he was doomed. The only reason he still lived, he rationalized, was that this hideous wretch wanted to savor its prey.

But maybe...there was hope? Even the act of craning his neck sideways hurt, but he did so anyway, casting Mila and Caelum a pleading, piteous look. “H-hey...hey!” Yet even as spoke out, his hollow cry for help died on his lips. Not for one second did he expect either or the strangers to actually come to his rescue. How could they, even? They were just human, and this caul-wearing, many-legged monstrosity would rip them apart. No, it was selfish for him even to ask. Caelum had already fled behind a shrine. Good, Barney thought. He was already dead, and in a much, much more immediate sense than how he felt earlier today. If the others could live, that would be the most he could hope for. So instead he decided he’d help them on their way, and gasped, “Run. Run!” Pain, despair, and dread held him in their grip. As the loathsome bug advanced, its countless limbs scrabbling across the tile floor, Barney let his eyes slide closed.

A moment later there came a noise right beside him, and his eyes shot open again. Caelum was right beside him, working to free him from the wreckage. Wait, what!? Barney wondered, dazed and alarmed. He should have run! “W-what are...you…?” A rivulet of wine stinging his eye cut him off, and as he lifted a hand to wipe it out he took in what the other student said. You can’t stay down. Well, why not? Hadn’t he suffered enough? No matter how strong, everyone caved under the pressure eventually. But...here Caelum was, risking his own neck in the face of an actual, honest-to-God horror movie monster to help him, a stranger who he didn’t even know. The guy was even grabbing things he could throw, a move that the pragmatic part of him reasoned couldn’t possibly harm the nightmarish centipede, but it meant something. A total stranger was willing to risk his life and even fight to save Barney. It was an act of courage and compassion, showing the very strength of character that he himself aspired to. I can’t let him down, Barney realized. I can’t let it be in vain. But that wasn’t all. The reminder Caelum gave him, even inadvertently, ignited a spark of self-reflection. Barney slicked his wine-soaked hair back off his face, grit his teeth, and planted his hands to rise. “I’m gonna live,” he said aloud, offering Caelum what reassurance he could. I want to live, he repeated to himself. It was time to stop feeling sorry for himself, and start actually demonstrating the strength of will he’d been telling himself about all along. If he died here today, it wouldn’t be because Barney Rynsburger didn’t feel like living.

With a concerted effort he got to his feet, standing alongside his rescuer. “Thank you.” Though six years Barney’s junior, Caelum possessed the fortitude and presence of mind not just to come to a stranger’s aid, but to start coming up with a plan, too. Following his comrade’s direction Barney took a look at the statue, noting both its size and instability, before glancing at the incoming abomination once more. “Maybe if it charges around blindly,” he suggested. Any plan of attack, he knew, would hinge upon how this thing behaved. That nagging rationale insisted that he had no hope, that a couple unprotected, unarmed humans couldn’t beat a grizzly bear let alone an anthropoid horror like this, but something was drowning that voice out. Was it...excitement? Barney couldn’t help but wonder. He was still afraid, sure, but he couldn’t deny that some fiery, primal part of him wanted to crush this thing, to wipe this gruesome bug off the face of the earth and repudiate its unacceptable claims. When Caelum took hold of a broken board, Barney did him one better. He heaved a deep breath and closed his hands around one of the wagon wheels, one in the central hub and one on the outer ring. It was heavy, but the exertion helped mitigate the pain of his injuries, and its weight paradoxically gave him strength. With this, he could do some damage--and maybe even kill this thing.

A moment later the Shadow crawled into range. Caelum started throwing things, quickly working his way through the pile, but one after another the hurled objects glanced right off. The forest of legs stopped anything that flew in between them, while stuff just bounced off that membranous white caul that covered its head. After only a moment the teenager let fly his last ditch attempt, a decently weighty candelabra, but the monster lashed out with its scythelike arm and sent it spinning away. Barney clenched his jaw, wheel at the ready. Time to try his luck.

Before he could charge one more object, apple-sized and shiny, bounced off the monster’s head. Barney paused, figuring that Caelum must have found something else to throw. He threw out that guess, however, when the grenade detonated the next second, staggering the Shadow with its concussive blast of flame. As it reeled, shrieking, Barney looked up to see a familiar figure descend from the second floor balcony of the cathedral, rappelling via the use of a glinting thread. “You again!” he cried as the police girl touched down.

She waved cheerfully at the young men. “Me again!” she agreed, although she couldn’t keep the pain out of her smile. Elation turned to worry in Barney’s heart as he witnessed the bloody scar on her face, crossing right over her left eye. The left lens had been smashed. Her good eye quickly turned to the monster. “Looks like y’all got yerselves in another pickle, huh?”

Amazed at the police girl’s casual manner, he could only give a helpless shrug. “Sorry! Thank you so much for saving us. Uh, again.”

“Ain’t a problem!” she assured them. “I reckon it was gonna happen no matter what.”

“Do you know what’s going on? Who are you?” Barney asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. Even if it wasn’t the best time to be asking, he couldn’t stop himself. If this stranger could make even a little sense of this situation, his mental state would be a lot better off.

“Heheheh, ooh, ow.” The police girl laughed, although it ended in a gasp as she used the slashed muscles on the left side of her face. “Call me Spindle if ya like. We can gab all ya want later, but fer now…” Raising her needle, she pointed it right at the twitching monstrosity as it readied itself to attack. She backed up, and the students around her followed. “This thing’s a Shadow. Your Shadow. Everythin’ aboutcha ya hate ‘n try to hide. If it gets ya, you’ll become jus’ like it. So ya gotta put this varmint down.” She nodded approvingly at his and Caelum’s makeshift weapons. “Ready?”

Though still not totally sure of himself, Barney tightened his grip. “I guess we’re doin’ this,” he agreed, with her words sinking in only after another second. “Wait, you said we gotta do it?”

“Uh huh!” the girl called Spindle grinned. “Thing is, I kinda, uh, suck at fightin’. No matter how hard I try, I barely even scratch ‘em…” Her smile turned a little self-conscious as she scratched her head.

Barney gulped, staring at the monster coming toward them. “Uh…”

Spindle raised her hand to try and calm him down. “B-but wait, don’t worry, I still got your back! With jus’ a li’l help. Now, come on out...” She span around and slashed the air behind her with her needle, once horizontally, and then vertically. They left behind brilliant streaks of light, and from the rifts a wave of pressure seemed to expand. In the radiance Spindle’s glasses shone, hiding her eyes to leave only her toothy grin. “ODRADEK!”

There came a burst of blue flame, welling up from the streaks, and the pressure gave way to a roaring wind. Barney steeled himself, and in the center he could see something forming between the lines. A moment later a diamond had taken shape, and in its center opened a single gazing eye that dispelled the momentary hurricane. When Barney looked again, he found a huge, ghostly kite woven of thread, its nexus an eye with a shining star for a pupil. Given his nerves, his first impulse was naturally one of alarm. “Another monster?!”

“Hold your horses, this ain’t a monster!” Spindle declared, putting pride into her voice despite her wounds. “This is a part o’ me! Watch and learn!” At that moment the Shadow hauled itself forward, swinging its brutal arm at Barney. He held his wheel up like a shield to block, but the police girl extended her sword arm. “Wrap ‘em up, Odradek!” At her command the kite-looking thing performed a spinning flourish, its eye glowing.

Almost instantly the centipede's arm stopped dead, bound by silken threads like a puppet tangled in its strings. It shook angrily and intoned, ”You dare oppose me?!” With a windy shriek it swung its other arm, only for Odradek to stop it, too. Spindle stepped forward and hurled her needle like a javelin, piercing through the caul that covered the monster’s head. With a single, fluid motion she wrapped up the thread in her hand and yanked, tearing part of the membrane loose. A good pull exposed the nightmare’s face, a collection of seemingly randomly-placed eyes inside a cagelike array of mandibles. ”Lowly worms!” it keened. ”You cannot see my face and live!” It struggled terribly, but Odradek’s strings held firm, even as sweat beaded on Spindle’s forehead.

It was gross, but that wasn’t the first thing on Barney’s mind. Though not an avid gamer by any means, he couldn’t help but feel this looked temptingly like a weak spot, and he didn’t need Spindle to tell him that her threads wouldn’t last forever. He could think about the kite-thing later; he needed to take care of this ‘Shadow’ now. “Let’s do it!” he called, hoping that Caelum would help him out again. With the monster’s face too high for now, he went for the body instead. Holding his wheel by the outer rim, he swung from one side to the other and back with reckless abandon, spurred by adrenaline into a feat of surprising strength. The spiky but stubby insect legs couldn’t outrange his wheel, either. Again and again he plowed through them, tearing several free at a time like shelling a shrimp. Caelum got just as good an opportunity, whether with his board or a better impromptu weapon.

After a few moments, Spindle’s voice cut through the chaos. “Alright y’all, it’s breakin’ free! Get to safety!”

Barney heard and obeyed, trusting his savior to call the shots. Sure enough, the Shadow lurched free of its binds and scythed across the ground right in front of it with both arms, narrowly missing its assailants. After taking a few deep breaths Barney was surprised to see the destruction he and Caelum had wrought on the abominable creature’s front. “It’s not as tough as it looks! We’re actually doing it?!” He dodged away again when it unleashed a wide slash, and circled around to hit it from the side, only to get whipped by its long tail. “Gaoww!” he grunted, wiping blood from his cheek, but when all was said and done it wasn’t that bad. The monster unleashed slash after slash in a heedless rage, but it just moved slowly and predictably enough that the humans could mostly avoid it. Its final swipe just about bent it sideways, and with a squeaking gasp it leaned back. “Now’s our chance!”

“Nuh uh! That’s a trap if I’ve ever seen one!” Spindle cautioned him. “Keep away a minute and see what he does!”

A moment later, right at the time when Barney would have smacked the horror with his wheel again, it bent forward and unleashed a torrent of neon-blue energy, somewhere between liquid and flame, into the ground. It expanded to fill an area around it, bubbling viciously like acid. “Phew…” Barney breathed, more grateful to the stranger than ever. Seeing the Shadow bent over sparked an idea in his mind. “I’m circling around!” As the attack continued he made his way toward the monster’s back end. Though mindful of his tail he needed to work fast, so just as he’d done with the Shaxes he protected his head as he waited. Finally, when the stream died down, he ran forward and jumped into the monster’s abdomen. “This is crazy, this is crazy,” he breathed, but every fiber of his being was now propelling him forth. Screaming wildly, he ran up the verminous thing’s arched back, planting one foot after another in the sticky caul, until he stood upon its shoulders.

Though the Shadow craned its arms they could not reach, and though its tail struck again and again, Barney endured it. ”Brainless doormat!” it piped. ”What do you think you’re doing?! I am your strength, your pride! You’re nothing without me!”

“Shut up already!” Barney yelled. “I’m sick of listening to you!” Try as he might to raise his wheel and bring it down on the monster’s head, however, all the bucking and twisting meant he couldn’t keep his balance. Seeing Spindle and Caelum, he called down to them. “Hey! Can...can you give me a hand?”

“You got it!” While Caelum moved to help however he could, Spindle called forth Odradek once more. She jumped, took hold of its spikes, and soared around the side using it like a kite. After Caelum got his shot in, she steered back toward the Shadow and leaped off, plunging her needle into the side of its head. As her momentum stopped held tight, and swinging with her full weight behind the needle twisted the monster’s head sideways, causing its whole body to seize up.

“Good work! Now...” Barney raised his wheel, aiming its bottom straight for the center eye. “...Screw you!”

His makeshift bludgeon struck home, and a sound rang out like many chains, snapping all at once. The Shadow bucked wildly, throwing Barney to the ground, and he landed in a heap with the wind knocked out of his lungs. When he looked up, he saw the nightmare convulsing, black tar spewing from its wounds, but it wasn’t finished. Instead it started mutating explosively, sprouting more clusters of legs and limbs. “This...stupid thing…” The joy that Barney felt for a moment began to slip away, but this time he did not sag down. Instead he got to his knees, reaching for his wheel once again.

"What a demanding job you’ve chosen."

At the sound of a heartbeat Barney froze, struck by a sudden pain in his heart. A voice reached him, both familiar and unfamiliar, from everywhere and nowhere. It was a growly, guttural grumble, and as he clutched at his chest, the voice continued to flow through him.

"Day in, day out, nose to the grindstone. The stresses of your trade, much greater thanks to those carried upon your back, in addition to the problems of education, the worries of insurmountable debt, irregular bad food, temporary and constantly changing human relationships that never come from the heart. TO HELL WITH IT ALL!"

A cry sprang from Barney’s throat, and he clenched his teeth. With one hand clamped against his heart, the other could not shoulder the wheel by itself. In front of him his berserk Shadow contorted as well, wracked by agony. But every second that passed, the pain became more manageable, the terrible strain feeling more natural.

"...In the end, none are happy. Not you, nor those who glut themselves on your efforts. And not I. Are you really content to waste away beneath debts and deadlines? To cynically discard your longing for good, and idolize your own suffering as virtue!?"

Barney had grown still. In, out. In, out. He filled his lungs with oxygen, and pumped his veins with blood. His eyes opened, shining gold. “...No.”

"Then change," came the voice. "Transform. Squirm and struggle! Become something vile in the eyes of your hangers-on. Disgust those sneering faces, reject those crushing boots. Wallow no longer in the darkness of despair, but call my name, and together, we’ll craaaawl our way back to the light!"

“Okay.” Standing up before the monstrosity of his own darkness, Barney raised his wheel with one hand. The other sank into his chest, somehow reaching below the surface. When he withdrew it, he held onto a heart-shaped clump of tar, spiky and beating. “Then show yourself...Gregor. SAMSA!”

With a final cry he crushed the heart, disappearing in an explosion of darkness. Even as the maelstrom broiled, however, blue flame lanced through the cloud, until like fog on a rainy day, the shadows dispersed. When they cleared, they revealed a new monster, a cross of centipede and lobster with six spike-tipped legs and two pairs of scythes, and a mouth of sharp teeth beneath a collection of sky-blue eyes. This one, however, wore no caul. Instead, Barney stood upon the creature’s back like a skateboarder, the fixed-up wagon wheel over his shoulder. His dirty clothes were gone, replaced with crisp, flowing clerical attire: a loose dark blue cassock with iron buttons down the front, over a collared shirt, heavy-duty work pants, and boots, with a dark blue greca complete with shoulder cape on top, and a matching wide-brimmed hat.

Having gotten up from where she fell flat on the ground, Spindle pumped her fest. “Heck yeah! That’s we’ve been waitin’ for!”

As he scowled at the convulsing remnants of the monstrosity in front of him, Barney extended his hand in the way that Spindle did. “Samsa, waste ‘em!”

”It’s history!” The creature below him thrashed, a blue power building in its open mouth. A moment later a surge of caustic power burned forth, streaming into the Shadow. A hollow shriek rang out as it was consumed, melting to tar and cinders. Samsa gave an awful smirk and lowered its body, allowing Barney to climb down. Numbly the young man allowed his wheel to vanish, and after he touched down Samsa disappeared into blue flame. ”Neheh. You’ve done well…”

Barney just about collapsed, but luckily Spindle was already on hand to catch him. “Whoa there, hoss!” she joked, fighting to keep him steady. “That was your Persona. Feelin’ alright?”

Blinking, Barney looked around slowly, as if waking up from a dream. He glanced at his new clothes, confused but also impressed. “I...guess? I mean, I feel okay. Pretty good, actually. But I have so many questions.” Realizing that the police girl was holding him, he did his best to right himself, reddening.

“Like I said, later,” Spindle laughed. “First, we gotta help your friends. There’s a buncha you and only one o’ me, so we oughta hurry. I’ll navigate ya from up high usin’ Odradek.” Her own Persona manifested once more, held at her side like a massive kiteshield.

Of course it’s not over, even after all that, Barney bemoaned, but if what Spindle said meant that the others were going through something like this, he couldn’t let them get killed. “Alright. I’m still kind of out of it, but if I can save someone else with this weird power, I’ll do it.” He glanced at Caelum. “You doing okay?”

Once everyone was ready, they could get going, back into the Prison of Indictment to find the others confronting their Shadows even now.

Dakota looked back at Vincent for a moment, pupils dilating from the idea of being chased by a giant bird. "You _think?" He muttered, another gust of rage-filled wind nearly toppling him over. That being said, this was all his idea anyways. And he chose to come here... So it was only right to be the bait, yeah? As fucked up as it sounded, he nodded along. "Yeah, I've got it. Just don't take too long!" He insisted, turning back to the creature in front of them.

Nick went off too, and for that moment, the creature took pride in the scrambling students. "You can't escape, you'll be stuck running in fear until I finally pin you down!" It remarked, a flap of it's wings blowing the curtains up for a moment in a violent gust. It barely got a look at the others, though, instead becoming distracted as a loud voice interrupted his taunting through the form of a still-functioning microphone.

"We're not done yet!" Dakota insisted, feeling a chill go down his spine as he caught the creature's attention. This thing knew a lot about him, and while he hated that, it could be useful here. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this bought Nick enough time to get back. To which Dakota nodded back to him, giving him a few cautious words away from the mic. "Let's try to not stay too close together, might swat us both." He quickly stepped closer to the end of the stage, deciding to play his part as bait first and foremost. The last thing he wanted was to see anyone hurt, after all. Especially considering their conditions already. What were the right words? What would piss it off in particular? He had to think quickly.

"You act like singing's the only quality I ever had," He commented, catching the creature's glare. "What happened to looking after bandmates? Other people? It's not selfishness, it's genuine!"

"Bullshit!" The creature's voice echoed, talon swiping across the outer area of the stage, possibly needing Nick to back away, but Dakota himself had to panic and roll off to dodge, a few of his dyed hairs getting cut from the narrow escape. They fell in front of his face at the front of the stage, bringing concern, but he couldn't hesitate now or he was definitely dead. "We're genuine, alright! Genuinely angry, with those bandmates, and the world! When we turned down Micki, do you think that was kindness? We're spiteful and wanted him to just get lost, or suffer." This brought Dakota pause, but as the shadow of a looming talon brought him back to reality, he quickly began scrambling down the straight path in front of the stage. as it crashed down, swiping down the narrow alley after him. "Why would they need OUR help? We're the ones that got fucked over! That was the first time we let our true self out in a long time...! That moment was what gave me the chance to sift through the cracks and bring us to this point! Where the facade will die, and we'll live as we truly should!"

Dakota's attempt to flee was met with a slash across his back, causing him to cry out and trip, shoulder smacking against the stage before he crashed down to the floor. Thankfully it was clear this creature's size was a hinderance, has it had struck him at the last possible moment, and now had to shift itself on stage to get a grab at him again. It laughed, confident it could just pluck him up and finish him off. Though, his voice brought momentary pause to the beast.

"I'm fine!" He'd call to inform the others, though his voice was shaky. A form of bravado, perhaps. He was trembling as he pulled himself up, scrambling farther along to make the creature turn further. Giving Vincent time for his plan, at whatever cost was necessary. "Yeah, I didn't help him when he asked..." Dakota admitted through his pain, unsure if the tears welling in his eyes were from the pain or the fact this thing made sense in a sick way. "I can't help everyone. I have to look after myself, too! I'm not entirely selfless." He genuinely couldn't do it, but, if it spited someone who he felt betrayed him...? Was that a justification for not being able to? Such frustration had brought him momentary relief, and that made him angry. Thinking he might have something in common with this beast after all.

A change of pace happened in the form of the turning creature stretching it's head out, attempting to tear at Dakota's flesh with it's large and threatening beak. He barely skimmed out of the way, but heard the voice of the creature behind him. "That's right! We're not selfless at all. We're not heroes, we're just filled with spite! Accept this, and die already! And then your true self can be unleashed!"

Dakota stopped in his tracks. His head turned to glare back at the eagle-head of the monster who took his name, gritting his teeth with one clear emotion: Anger, just what the thing wanted. Gripping the mic stand in his hands, he lifted it as he turned, feeling pent up stress from this whole ordeal peaking. "How's this for spite?!" His words rang out as he thrusted the makeshift weapon forward with both hands, stabbing the beast in the eye. An ear-piercing screech filled the entire room as it recoiled, stomping the stage as a black substance poured from it's eye socket onto the stage, wriggling but seemingly doing nothing else of note. During this, something was more obviously revealed: There was a marking of some sort, on the lower stomach area of the beast. It almost looked like a comically obvious weakspot, but after it's rant about physical issues beforehand, it might've made a bit of sense to Nick that it was there. It practically oozed with the same substance that leaked from it's now empty eye-socket, the mush of it's eye falling into that shadowy muck, bubbling alongside it.

"You..." The anger in it's voice filled the room, it's front talons stomping as it was now fully dedicated to stamping Dakota into nothing but paste. "I'll tear you apart!" Each crash was destructive, crashing the stage and bringing holes and craters to the surrounding area, shaking the area up. The very foundation of the stage was becoming damaged, and the lights above shook violently. If Vincent was to make a move, now seemed as good a time as any.

Dakota, figuring he'd have to run into the seats now to keep away, quickly found it was no longer an option. A large wing swept in front of the stairs, sweeping him back and nearly slamming him into the stage again. Thankfully, by gripping the creature's wing, he managed to pull himself up enough to roll onto the stage, even if it did cost him his microphone. This left Dakota with little room to run, but he made use of what he could: Scrambling backwards to avoid the large talons of the beast, it's cries of violence making it clear it's full attention stood on him. Where it had toyed with it's food before, now being injured it realized that Dakota's swift death was necessary to ensure things went as planned. This meant that as a distraction, Dakota was actually doing pretty damn good! The beast was fully turned in the opposite direction, too. Meaning the others were, at least Dakota hoped, safe.

Without help, however, his little cat and mouse game would come to an end very soon, as his amount of space to avoid the approaching violent stomps was quickly dwindling.

As they ran, Jin did their best to keep the two women ahead of them from danger. It felt fruitless somehow, as the scenery warped and changed, and the pursuers kept pace. All the while, there was an odd pressure in this cell – if they even were in a cell anymore. It was as if the very air was hostile and hateful.

After a particular set of warped stairs, the three would come to a dead end. Flat walls, no doors, no corners. Nowhere to hide.

Jin turned and faced the shadow person and creatures, which were closing in slow as if savoring the moment.

There didn’t look like any way out.

Having left Nick and Dakota to fend for themselves against the literal monster, Vincent was safe from Shadow Dakota's rage-fueled assault. Any possible guilt over the decision was squashed as, well, Vincent had already been on the end of a supernaturally savage beating, a fact that was steadily returning to the front of his mind as the natural surge of adrenaline started to peter out. Dull pain bubbled up all over his body, the welts over his face being the first to get particularly sensitive.

Whatever. Vincent wasn't gonna let his injuries get the best of him now.

He burst out from behind the curtains just as Dakota pulled his mic stand out of the monster's eye, the perfect time to almost get immediately sideswiped by one of its giant wings swinging at Dakota. Vincent barely managed to dodge it, stumbling backwards and near falling on his ass. The gust of wind it produced also swept him off balance, it was all he could do to stay upright. Steeling his nerves and tensing his body, Vincent looked to the club's ceiling. An array of lights hung from the rafters, perfectly normal to what you'd expect to find on a stage like this one. Keeping his eye steady on a long bard of bright white lights across the stage, Vincent fed a bit of the cord into his hand. He swung it back and forth, back and forth, the microphone dangling just below his waist...

Then, he threw it up, flinging it like a rock in a sling! The microphone soared, only just clearing the lights. The cord caught against the bar, and the mic dropped, swinging down towards the stage once more. It might not've been any fancy grappling-hook-styled catch, but the cord was looped right where it needed to be.

Vincent, trying to catch Dakota's eye without making noise that'd attract his monstrous double, jerked his head back towards himself. The thing needed to be in the right spot for this to work, after all. Taking the cord in both hands, Vincent fell a bit further back on the stage, proceeding to pull hard on the lights. The track they were hooked onto creaked and whined from the strain of Vincent's weight, luckily masked by the violent movements of Shadow Dakota. With Vincent's strength, it would probably come clean off with a good few tugs...

When questioned what he was doing by Barney in the middle of his frantic attempts to save him before the monster got them both, Caelum didn’t pause to show his bafflement. “Getting you out,” he said shortly, all while his hands worked. He didn’t think Barney knew it was uncharacteristic of him to risk his own safety like this, but desperate times and all that. So, the guy was probably honestly confused why someone was saving him. He had shouted for them to run too, the heroic idiot. Well, whatever he thought of it, Barney was getting out of this wreck, at least.

By the time he was free of the debris, he seemed to come to his senses, as he declared he would live. “I won’t die here either,” Caelum agreed. Truthfully, he was partially trying to convince himself that he could make it out. “And you’re welcome,” he held Barney’s gaze briefly, serious. He wasn’t the type to downplay his own actions, and it was a grave moment besides. That did remind him that he’d never explicitly thanked the other man for when he’d charged through the previous obstacles, but it was kind of late for that anyhow.

As soon as Barney managed to stand up and they both armed themselves, the eldritch insect came in sight. Caelum began throwing small miscellanea, but nothing worked. “Oh, god,” he gulped, terrified as the thing got closer and closer without signs of even being inconvenienced, never mind stopping or being injured. Then, after he ran out of stuff, something else hit the monster’s head. Caelum glanced around, bewildered, which was what revealed to him the hidden party. It was the police woman again.

At the sight of her figure, he exhaled a large gust of air. The relief loosened his muscles and made him breathe easier. Of course, he was still fairly tense given the situation, but not so much he’d freeze when it was time for action. The police woman – Spindle – did get them a brief respite due to her intervention, however. Besides introducing herself, she also explained that the monster was a Shadow, and what that meant.

When she asked if they were ready, Caelum awkwardly shrugged. He couldn’t help but protest her following claim that she was bad at fighting, though. “What? Didn’t you skewer that Cerberus’ head?! In what world does that make you bad – and how could we possibly do better?” he exclaimed. That she was able to summon and control a living kite just reinforced his question.

Before long, though, Spindle attacked the Shadow, wrapping it up via Odradek. They exposed the Shadow’s face. Given that it protested such, and how it looked much softer, and thus more vulnerable, than any other part of it, Caelum could tell attacking that was the way to go. Unfortunately, it was too high for reach just then. Still, he followed Barney’s lead, and got close enough to attack the body. Gripping the board tightly, he slashed at the mantis’ side with the jagged end. It didn’t do much, and in the end, Caelum went for a stab. The shape of the weapon wasn’t right though, and all he managed was to get it destroyed beyond use.

He escaped as soon as Spindle said to, but one of the Shadow’s flailing legs still managed to catch him just above the ankle, though the resultant cut was shallow enough not to endanger or slow him down. When he was safely behind a statue, he dropped the ruined remains of the board, and went to search for another weapon. It didn’t take as long this time – he knew where to go, and what to look for. This time, he went for the broken handle of the wagon, for an improvised weapon that was similar to Spindle’s needle all things considered.

By the time it was time for them to get in another hit, Caelum was ready. “I’m on it!” In the heat of battle, and determined to end this, he wasn’t so afraid anymore, nor embarrassed. He ran from behind his latest cover, getting to the Shadow’s side while avoiding its maw and tail as he best could. After Spindle skewered it, so did he, driving the wooden stake into its side, and simply leaving it in there as he retreated. The Shadow’s thrashing earned him some more cuts over his arms and sides, but by now, he was pumped too full of adrenaline to notice or care.

Caelum watched from some distance as Barney finished off the monster. “Kill it!” he cheered. Watching him knock this horror around with a wheel was exhilarating. He certainly didn’t expect him to be able to summon his own minion, however. His mouth hung upon till he shook it off. Barney rode his scorpion to battle, new outfit and fixed up wheel apparently part and parcel of what happened with him. With his new pet and its magic, Barney had no issue defeating the Shadow.

“Persona…that was the, uh, Samsa-cockroach?” he questioned. He had no idea why or how that thing showed up, but he’d learned not to question much of what happened in this place. His sanity would suffer otherwise.

However, when Spindle said they had to go help the others, he couldn’t help but whine. “Do we really have to? I don’t even have,” he gestured to Barney, “whatever that was.” Still, he did warily approach the kite. It was a way out of here, if nothing else. Even if Spindle only took them after saving the others, which, well, he supposed it was for the best.

“Better than you are, I’d say,” he answered Barney’s question. “Let’s move on,” he sighed. It was as good a sign as any that he’d go along with the whole saving others thing even though he was sick and tired of monsters, megalomaniacs, and all other incomprehensible events.

Guitar in hand, Nick nodded at Dakota's warning to not stay too close together, to avoid AoE attacks. Frankly, putting this stuff into terms he was familiar with was one of the few things tethering him to what was left of his sanity at this point. Yes, 'Don't stand close or it'll hit you all with the wings' made sense, but his instincts were geared towards video games, not actual real-life combat. Anything that could streamline the mental process was welcome.

Separating from Dakota a bit, Nick was somewhat surprised to see him arguing with the monster in front of them. It did kind of make sense, as this thing was putting him on blast for the world to see, but at the same time, this wasn't a video game or DnD. Talking was not a free action in real life, and Nick took advantage of that. While they argued about spite, and how their friends apparently fucked them over in the past, Nick circled around the thing and carefully avoided its talon sweeping along the stage. It was, to put it in a word, absolutely terrifying to deal with.

Dakota, on the other hand, must have been experiencing pants-shitting terror. He was barely dodging the thing's frenzied attacks, one even clipping him and knocking him down. It was as the two argued once more after that close call that Nick moved in, reaching the thing's leg just in time to hear Dakota's witty one-liner as he stabbed the thing in the eye with a microphone stand. Fighting back a reflexive cringe, Nick and swung his guitar once, twice and its leg joint before noticing the obvious weak point on its chest, bleeding out some disgusting black substance. Not one to miss the chance to end a fight early, Nick shifted his grip on the guitar and swung it upwards, not unlike one would a golf club, directly into that spot on its chest.

While Dakota pulled his own weapon out of the thing's skull, Nick was backing away from its tantrum, though not quickly enough. Barely managing to lift the guitar in time as a makeshift shield, Nick was flung backwards by a swinging wing, and though he wasn't seriously harmed thanks to only having been clipped by a section of the wing while it focused on Dakota, Nick's guitar was broken at the neck.

Standing up with a groan, Nick paled when he saw Dakota being slowly but surely cornered by the thing. Vincent's arrival during the Gryffon's freakout was fortuitous, but his lasso plan wouldn't go very far without a way to get that thing back towards the stage. Unsure of what to do, Nick ran over to Vincent and looked at the jury-rigged pulley-lasso-thing he'd made. "Need a hand?" He offered, admittedly lamely. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he wasn't quite ready to just go and start throwing hands at the thing. That would probably just get him killed anyway.

^{? ? cell block : ? ? hours}
A dead end. It hadn't mattered what routes they took, those creatures had run them into a trap and now there was no way out. Harriette rested her fists against the wall, panting from the run and looking over her shoulder warily at the shadow and it's macabre posse. Were they actually going to die here? Be torn to shreds, like that bloody red eyed person? Was she going to let herself be killed? Harriette trembled, with fear, frustration, and anger. If she was going to die, she didn't want it to be in some dingy, optical illusion jail cell. But what could she do? There were so many, too many to try and fight even if they crumbled apart. And the other two, Jin and Alina - if she tried to make a break for it, could she forgive herself just leaving those two here? If it was for survival, maybe...

---

<sub>"It's riiiiight... here."

"Got it right this time?"

"Stop doubting me and just open the hole!"</sub>

---

^{∎̵͍̅͜∎̵̰̽̏͝∎̷̢̻̞̂∎̸̨̻̹̈∎̵̰͚̝͆∎̷̮̋̄̚ ̵͆ : ̷?̷ ̶?̷ ̷h̸o̴u̴r̸s̶}
Light suddenly cut through the dark, twisted room. Bright and pulsing, it shone at the trio's feet and curled around them in a wide arc, laced with glowing sigils and glyphs. In seconds a magic circle appeared beneath them, and before anyone could so much as think that it might be a bad idea to be standing at the center, it disappeared - taking a clean cut of the floor with it.

For the second time the three of them fell. Above them, shadows of the ashen corpses could be seen milling around the hole as it shrunk, and a glint of glowering red eyes until it closed completely. Below them, pitch black. It would have been hard to even tell they were falling, if not for the sensation itself and the gentle rush of wind. Harriette thought she might actually be dead this time, but after a few seconds of free fall a pinpoint of light appeared... and grew and grew until it engulfed the lot of them, and they landed on a bed of moss.

It wasn't a soft landing, but it was far from fatal. As soon as she got her bearings Harriette pulled herself to her feet and fought to catch her breath. She wanted to find out what fresh hell they'd been pulled into this time. Gone were the cold concrete walls and iron bars of the cell. No part of the prison remained, not the humans strapped to the machines, the cathedral, nor the courthouse. Instead, they found themselves in a large open cavern. Light filtered gently in from small openings in the cave's ceiling, varying colors of blue and gold. The cave's jagged rock floor was dotted with patches of green, small plants fighting to stay alive amongst their wilted cousins. Though heavy and humid, the air was much less oppressive in the cave than it had been in the cell with the shadow - and though it was enclosed, it featured a few dark passages that Harriette could only assume led to other cave openings.

Are we... underneath the prison? She never would have expected that there were tunnels beneath the area, but then again how could anyone expect it?

A few minutes passed, enough for Harriette, Jin, and Alina to regroup. They stood in the middle of the cavern.

"What now...?" The red haired woman asked, folding her arms in front of herself. Should they try to find a way back up? Or maybe there was an escape route somewhere down here in the cave system?

The stillness of the cave was disrupted by a shuffling sound nearby. Behind a large rocky outcropping, four antennae sprouted up - quickly followed by two sets of large inhuman eyes. There were two creatures, and they blinked at the humans for a few moments.

"...we did it!"

"Jackpot!"

The creatures jumped out from their hiding spot, revealing small thin bodies and bulbous heads. Each sported a pair of leathery wings on it's back, and their faces were spread with wide toothy smiles. They were tiny monsters, not more than two or three feet tall. Though their appearance called to mind little devils, neither made to attack the humans in front of them. In fact, one flapped its wings and flew up and away, heading to one of the holes in the cavern wall.

"Her Gloriousness will be sooooo pleased with us! I'm gonna go let her know!" It said, and then was gone, leaving it's partner behind. The little demon looked very content to lounge in a dead flower bed, watching the humans and snickering to itself every now and then.

Dakota could hear his heart thumping, the panic of the chase catching up to him as he continued to try and crawl and toss himself whichever way would keep him from being smashed. Most of the space in front of Dakota was becoming dented craters of space as the beast continued after him. It wasn't long before he found himself at the edge of the stage, hands touching air as he nearly fell backwards off of it. His head quickly shifted back and forth, looking at the small drop behind him he needed to make, before looking forwards and becoming frozen by the overbearing beast in front of him. He didn't have much space left, and this thing seemed nowhere near taken down. Regret filled his mind as he realized leading the others here was a death wish in disguise, his own intuition wronging him and those who'd followed in his wake.

In his frozen moment, his gaze shifted beneath the beast, noticing Vincent and Nick on the other side. Where they could run, they instead stood and still tried to help. His view was somewhat obscured due to a black substance dripping out of a supposed wound on the bottom of the beast, Nick's strike doing more than either man could realize despite it rampaging forward after it's main target. He saw a gesture from Vincent, at the very least, and that confused him for a second. Though a quick glance upwards not only brought him back to what was happening, but also the cord up over the lights, which were shaking from Vincent's strength.

The creature in front of him was heaving. Nick's strike having caught it off guard, and though angered further it was also not taking the strike well in the slightest. "You've got nowhere to go." It's voice carried over the area, lifting a talon to strike down at Dakota again. Dakota reacted in a panicked prey manner, not having much of a way to go but knowing he had to move or he was done. If they wanted any chance of those lights crashing on top of it, then it had to move back towards center stage. Which meant...

His reaction was to dive forward with a yell, terror mixing with reaction to get him out of the way as a talon smashed behind him onto the stage. He scrambled on his hands momentarily to pull himself up, the beast reacting by using it's head instead, diving down to rip Dakota to shreds but instead colliding with the stage, causing a screech of pain. Dakota ran directly under the beast, some of that black substance landing on his clothing, but having a lack of reaction. It seemed to simply slide down his clothing, dripping onto the ground to bubble.

"You can only run for so long, do you really think I'll tire out before you?!" Annoyed both at Dakota, and both Vincent and Nick as it wasn't sure which of them was responsible for striking it in the back, turned rapidly via a short jump, it's wings offering a large gust that blew Dakota to the ground as it blew against his back. The beast landed back on the stage, approaching as Dakota began to pull himself up to get away, though failing as he fell back onto one knee. "Your luck's ran out. I'll use you as an example, then I'll make use of these tools you brought with you!"

Turning, Dakota looked up. A small and weak smirk was on his face.

"Giving up? I knew you never had any spine!" The creature assumed, drawing nearer.

Dakota's eyes looked upon the lights above, now sitting above their enemy. His lack of response brought enough silence to allow the creaking above to be audible, which brought confusion to the creature. Only then did it take notice of what Vincent and Nick were doing, the cord they were pulling on. Which it followed, noticing the lights above shook and trembled. "What?!" It exclaimed confusion and shock, attempting to back away, but it was far too late as Vincent and Nick made their final pull.

The track above gave way, the heavy lights above sparking as everything came crashing down. As quick as he could, Dakota scrambled backwards to get away from the oncoming danger. Their much larger and slower enemy, however, had no such luck. A mix between injury from Nick, and positioning caused from Vincent and Dakota, brought it into a place it couldn't escape. The bright lights crashed upon it's back, crashing it's body into the stage with a cry of pain as it was both crushed by the lights themselves and electrified from the torn wires, the stage dimming aside from large bright sparked bursts that caused flickers on the stage, showing the increasing agony the creature was put through as it's cries of pain slowly began to die as a gurgle in it's own throat, massive body melting down into the same black dripping mass.

As the sparkshow died down, the few remaining lights above the seating all darted towards the stage, presenting a singular white light. Half crushed beneath the lights was that same human form from before, hands shaking as it's lower half was utterly crushed, a black splatter being all there was to show for it now. "Why?" It called weakly, glaring forward at the three who caused this whole ordeal, but Dakota especially. "We could've been happy, at least for awhile longer. But instead, you've fought back. Nearly killed what little hope was left festering inside. Why?!"

Dakota frowned, slowly pulling himself up. With caution, he approached the downed figure, assuming he was harmless at this point. There was a small amount of guilt in his own mind, too. Knowing full well everything this 'other self' had said was true, if not slightly clouded. He felt the need to set things straight. "There's more we can do with our lives," He answered, looking down at the half-crushed figure somberly. "Yeah, we could give it our all one last time, but then that'd be it. If we push forward, we can find something else to do with our lives. Live longer, make things better."

"We..."

"Eh?" Dakota blinked.

"You said 'we'." It explained. "That means you realize we're one and the same."

Looking away momentarily, Dakota found the strength to nod. "Sounds like you might be more accepting too," He remarked. "Didn't you just get done saying how you're so much better?"

It rolled it's eyes, seeming unamused by this.

"Yeah, there's a lot of anger towards what happened. But if we simply live being angry all the time, that wouldn't help either. We can't spite everyone we meet, they go through life experiences just like we do everyday." Dakota explained, softly. "Honestly, small stuff to make other people happy, like picking up in the cafeteria today. That guy's smile made me feel pretty good, so I'm sure somewhere it made you feel the same way. Yeah?"

"It doesn't replace what we lost, that's all I desire." It explained simply. "Small deeds can't fill that void. We're still empty, and lost. We have no path to follow!"

"That's not true at all!" Dakota snapped. "Sure, it might be a minor thing. But those things are what fuel us long enough to find another purpose." He stopped for a moment to ponder, before admitting: "Maybe we stow around with too much anger. Too much procrastination. But, if an effort is made, we can find a new walk of life. Maybe even relevant to what we lost."

Pondering itself, the second Dakota slowly nodded along with this train of thought. "We can be motivated to live again, rather than pass everyday like it's nothing. Appreciate life for what it's worth, rather than dragging ourselves down. Then, we can find peace." It looked up to Dakota, determination in it's eyes. "This is a promise we can make? To fuel ourselves past this glooming and procrastination, to have more progressive lives?"

Dakota gave one strong nod. "Of course." He responded confidently. "You're me, after all."

With a heavy sigh, it laid down with closed eyes, seeming to find some peace. "So this is what freedom feels like," It remarked, sporting a small comforted smile. "Let's make it last."

Dakota reached a hand out, meeting with his other self. Slowly, it's stable upper body ascended into the air, slowly drifting from his grasp as he looked on. A feeling of relief drifted over him as he stood there, eyes momentarily closing to relax. Their previous enemy began to glow with a blue aura, compressing into a form of white momentarily as Dakota opened his eyes.

Bursting from the white, a new figure stood in place of his doppelganger. Bipedal, seeming to take on most of the avian characteristics of it's previous form, the figure drifted lightly atop a lyre. Standing nearly eight feet tall, tufts of white feathers popped out of the unzipped upper half of a studded leather jacket where it's lengthy legs were covered by torn jeans, revealing the thing yellow leg beneath. Large talons were bare on both it's hands and feet, and a bandana graced it's head, covering it's eyes where slight red trails tainted it's feathers.



Slowly, the creature drifted forth, into Dakota. The young man rested his hand on his chest, not noticing the change going on around him. His clothes began to shift, sporting some similarities to that of the creature that had shaped before him. A bulky leather jacket with numerous chains hanging off of it gracing his torso with a white glove covering his right hand. His undershirt being a matching color to his jacket, reading "FLY FREE" in bold red letters. His jeans became covered in an assortment of belts of varying sizes, torn at the knees exposing the bare flesh underneath. In place of his old shoes were steel-toed boots, bottom of his pants' legs tucked in, exposing their full length. His silver chains faded, replaced with a black spiked choker around his neck, with nails still black, not differing aside from small decorative skulls on each. The mic stand he'd lost quickly shot to him, wrapping in the strap across his back as if it was it's rightful place.

Quickly, the blocked entryways became open as the shadowy masses retreated out of the building. Leaving the three to figure out their next move, or perhaps just look into what the hell had just happened. Dakota, uncertain himself the true extent of what had just happened, felt oddly at peace despite the whole ordeal. He turned to face Nick and Vincent, knowing that whatever just happened, it probably wouldn't have without them here. In a way, he felt indebted to them both. For what? He wasn't fully sure yet, but this comfort inside was enough to go on.

"What the hell just happened...?" He muttered, walking towards Nick and Vincent with an utter obliviousness to his own costume change. He had so many questions, like why did a bird just fly into his chest? Also why the hell was there an angry version of himself here to begin with that turned into a giant bird/lion thing? Third, and possibly least but the easiest for Dakota to wrap his mind around, came up as he took notice of his own attire. He recoiled in surprise, raising his arms to look himself over. "... And where'd these clothes come from?!" He instinctively questioned, this whole confusing situation causing more and more questions to raise by the second. He had to crouch down for a moment and just sigh to try and let all the insanity pass now that things grew quiet in the entertainment hall. "This place is too much." He complained as he tried to make sense of the situation now that they had a moment of calm.

As much as Barney wanted to plonk himself down, nice new clothes be damned, and refuse to move until this Spindle chick answered at least a few of the countless questions buzzing in his mind, that conversation could wait. He would have honestly expected by now that he’d been too exhausted and brain-fried by all this baffling overstimulation to walk another step, but whatever just happened left him feeling pretty good, all things considered. It was like a weight had been taken off his shoulders, the sort of burden that piled up so slowly over time that he never noticed how heavy it had grown until it was gone. As long as he had gas in his tank, he could keep on trucking.

Before they proceeded, though, Spindle addressed Caelum’s very reasonable concern. Halo effect or not, Barney had gained a lot of respect for the younger man, and was a little worried about how he’d fare without this power too. Spindle, however, was nothing if not cheerful. Being a few inches taller than him, she gave a sympathetic smile and clapped her hand on his shoulder with the air of a big sister. “Hey, chin up! Ya already done a mighty fine job, even without a Persona. Chances are you’ll get yours purty soon, but until then you’re fine t’hang back an’ let us do the heavy liftin’. Jus’ make sure you don’t lollygag behind, now!”

He gave the police girl a nod, and together he, Caelum, and Spindle jogged over to the cathedral doors, their footsteps the only disturbance in the calm silence that had overtaken the place. Barney set down his wheel to apply his strength, and working together the three pushed the doors open and stepped out into the smoky dusk of the war-torn world. Going back out into the Prison didn’t delight Barney by any means, but after the change that had overtaken him, he felt much less fearful about it than before. He still planned to avoid the beacon he saw roving over the Proving Grounds, but it no longer struck him as the beam of certain doom it did before, and his days of cowering from the guards were over. After all, he’d overcome that repulsive creature -with some serious help, of course- and somehow turned its strength into his own. It was empowering, and with power came courage--the determination to do others the good turn that had been done for him.

After taking a deep breath, Barney reached down to grab his weapon. When he did, however, he found that it had disappeared. “Hey, my wheel’s gone!”

The news did not seem to take Spindle by surprise. She was in the process of pulling out a few ephemeral strings from Odradek, making them into loops. “Uh huh, that’s normal. Same with my needle, see?” With a flourish and a subtle flash her own weapon appeared in her hand, and when she let it go it vanished, like a flicker in one’s peripheral vision. Then she handed the loops of thread to Barney and Caelum. “Here, put these doohickies on your ears,” she told them. “Odradek’s power is connectin’ things no matter the distance between ‘em, so with these we can chitchat even when I’m flyin’ high up.”

“Oh, cool,” Barney said, pretty nonplussed by such a claim at this point. He accepted the loop, noting both its softness and its strength, like spider silk. The thread trailing off it towards Odradek seemed to disappear, and when he poked at it he could barely feel the ghostly line. “So, where do we need to go?”

Spindle took hold of her Persona and climbed on, ready to fly. “Last I saw was three guys hoofin’ it over yonder.” She pointed toward the entertainment center a few jailhouses away as she started floating upward. “That thing’s someone’s Shadow’s Territory, sure as sugar. Y’all oughta hustle.”

As the beacon swept closer she shot up into the sky, quickly reaching an altitude where she could look over the whole prison without having to worry about being spotted. Barney and Caelum waited out the spotlight in cover before getting a move on. The Proving Grounds’ perimeter road, which divided them from the arc of jailhouses, provided a quick means of navigating the mazelike array of pens and prison lines, but it wasn’t without its issues. After just a few moments of running the young men ran into a guard. The sentry stood at the entrance to the jailhouse north of the one with the cathedral, and even without a face managed to seem surprised at the two intruders running free. “What? Hey!”

Still angry about the guards from earlier, and now in a position to do something about it, Barney decided to put Spindle’s word to the test. He reached out and grabbed at an imaginary wheel as if to heft it behind his shoulder, and just like that his weapon appeared from nowhere. Suddenly exhilarated by the magical feat, Barney nearly laughed aloud, but instead he put his energy into an all-out swing. With a strength he didn’t know he had, he bashed the guard with his wheel before it could so much as bring its baton up to defend itself, toppling it backward over the brick sidewall of the jailhouse stairs. At that point Barney couldn’t help but laugh, and after letting go of the wheel again he continued onward without missing a beat. A moment after he and Caelum passed, the fallen guard blasted a geyser of darkness from its face-hole to call forth a demon, but by the time the Buer appeared the intruders were already gone.

Before he knew it, Barney stood in front of the music hall. He prepared to charge inside, but stopped in his tracks when he nearly plowed straight into a few guys coming the other way. It was Dakota, Vincent, and Nick, all looking a little worse for wear, but Dakota in particular looking altogether different from how Barney remembered him. A new, striking outfit, a comparably confident bearing...had he overcome this Shadow, too? “Thank God you’re all alright,” he breathed, lifting his new hat a touch to wipe sweat from his brow.

“They made it? Heck yeah!” came the voice of the police girl through his new accessory. “I can see ‘em now. Looks like that dude got his Persona too! Sa-weeeet!” Spindle’s cheer came loud enough that the other guys could hear her, too. “That’s real good, y’all. The more ya got, the better chance ya have of makin’ it outta here.”

At that point, with the others’ safety confirmed, Barney couldn’t help but give voice to the general confusion. “That’s great and all, but what are they, Miss Spindle? What is this place?” he said, making sure to drop her name for the sake of the newbies. “We’re totally in the dark here!”

“Yeah, I know, hmm…” She spent a moment thinking, trying to come up with a quick but decent explanation. “Well, they’re like your gumption. Or your fightin’ spirit, yeah! Ya see, this here world’s made from everyone’s cognition. It ain’t the real world, but...uh, think of it like your shadow. It’s not you, but its there anyhow, and even though its based off you, it can get all weird an’ messed up dependin’ on the other stuff...around it?” Spindle cleared her throat nervously, knowing her explanation was less than ideal. “But uh, the bottom line is, your Persona is a part of you. The strong part that can face down anythin’ in your way.”

Over the line there came the sound of a slight gasp. “Aw hell, I got all distracted tryin’ to explain things. Ya got bozos incomin’. A whole bunch.” Suddenly tense, Barney wheeled around to survey his surroundings, and sure enough he could see guards coming from three directions. “Listen up y’all, your trusty navigator’s gonna getcha through this. Our goal’s the prison entrance, way up on the north side. I need both ya guys with Personas to hold them guards off. The rest of ya need to skedaddle down the alley by the music hall and take a left onto the basketball court. It’s fenced in, but y’all can slide some dumpsters up against ‘em to climb over. Keep an eye out for the inmates though, they might play rough. C’mon, hop to it, folks!”

Barney took another deep breath and pulled out his wheel. Even though he and Dakota were still pretty much clueless, it looked like they’d be put through a trial by fire. “Listen to Spindle and go ahead, guys!” he told the others, gearing up to fight. “We’ll be right behind you!”

Without much else of benefit existing inside the entertainment hall, it'd been time to leave before something else boxed them in. Though it was to Dakota's surprise to see familiar faces, although one much differently dressed among them, darting towards him rather than running out. Skidding to a halt as to not slam into the approaching group, his eyes were wide with surprise. He wondered if Barney's strange outfit had anything to do with having a similar experience to theirs, making him wonder if this would have all been a bit easier if they stuck together. No sense worrying now though, as the group was piecing back together! "'Course!" He replied to Barney's concern, grinning. "Wasn't easy though. Met myself. He turned into a giant monster tryin' to freakin' kill us." He tried to brush it off, considering they lived. But that didn't mean it was any less unnerving.

As Spindle's voice came out of essentially nowhere, Dakota jumped a little in surprise. "Huh?!" He expressed audible confusion, especially at the 'Persona' bit. "Persona? The heck's that?"

His question brought a voice into his own mind, a simple "It's me."

Slowly turning his head, that avian figure from before was laying upon a lyre in the air, causing him to panick back towards Barney as if for protection with a yelp. "Gah! I thought you were some weird hallucination or something, where did you come from?!" His question was more or less echoed by Barney's own admittance of confusion, which Spindle's disembodied voice tried to aid. It was... Him? So it was that part of him from before, now protecting him in this weird place? Slowly he let down his guard, approaching the strange figure that just floated along. An exchange of nods later, Dakota had more questions. "So you can, like, fight?"

Rather than find answers directly, the Persona faded into him again. Awkwardly Dakota looked down at himself momentarily, tapping at his own chest, before finally finding himself feeling... Enlightened.



Snapping to attention with a brisk "Oh!" as Spindle alerted them to incoming bozos, he took a moment to listen in on her game plan. They'd have to fend off these guards, now? He'd just gotten out of a big ordeal, and now this? Figuring there wasn't much choice in the matter, he nodded along. Not many other options, and this gal knew a lot more than they did. So if she had something in mind, he wasn't exactly looking to disregard her advice. However, suggesting for Nick and Vincent to go ahead made Dakota put two and two together: His two buddies were injured. His 'persona' just fed him some valuable information for helping injured people. There was only one option.

Knowing his command, Dakota's Persona came out and made itself known. "Hold on a sec, lemme try this." He insisted to them both, requesting for his Persona to "Give 'em a hand! With, uh... 'Dia?'"

It drifted over the two men, lyre it rode upon strumming without it's involvement. Within that moment, a healing spell coursed through both Nick and Vincent to help with their injuries, hopefully leaving Nick's injures from the beating before at the docks healed, and patching up some of the beating Vincent took. It was the least he could do for them, though speaking of doing things for other people, he thought of Spindle, realizing her voice was familiar. She'd been the one who helped them escape Pondwater! She'd been hurt during that too, hadn't she? "Hey, ah, Spindle?" He called, realizing one way or another Barney was communicating with her. "You got hurt protecting us before, right? With this healing magic, I can fix that! Where are you, anyways?" Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of time to focus on that. Instead, those guards were approaching, and it seemed himself and Barney were the only ones around to stop them. That just meant he'd do his best to keep Nick and Vincent safe now, where they'd helped him before.

"You guys put in all that effort to get me here," He spoke fondly to the two with a smirk on his face. "So I'll put this power to use and chase these punks off!" As he pulled the mic stand off his back, his Persona took to standing, or more so floating in the air with it's arms crossed, readied to take some vengeance on the guards. . The lyre it rode upon slowly began to float around it in a rotation. "Let's show 'em what happens when they mess with us," He spoke to his Persona, feeling a name drift into his mind. Slightly slouching forward with weapon in hand, he called it without hesitation.



At the call of it's name, his Persona's wings opened wide, letting out a somewhat familiar screech as it flapped them, shooting a gust forward for intimidation. Dakota wasn't backing down from a fight, not now that the tables were turning. He wanted to get the others out of here, and this power would let him try and do it. After it was all over, hopefully they could find the others. He wasn't sure the exact count, but knew a few girls seemed to be missing, as well as his cafeteria buddy Jin! Hopefully they could hold out, wherever they were, just a little while longer.

Nick watched with Vincent, holding his portion of the rope as Dakota scrambled, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged blows from the Gryffon monster in response to noticing the plan. It came pretty damn close there, but he managed to get away from the flagging beast, which continued to taunt and deride his life choices as it attempted to murder him and take his place. How that would work, Nick wasn’t quite sure but hey, crazy mirror world demon, so don’t think too much, okay?

Almost comically, it noticed the array of lights hanging precariously over it just late enough that it couldn’t possibly avoid the inevitable collapse when Nick and Vincent tugged, hard, on their makeshift lasso, sending the whole scaffolding collapsing onto it, weight crushing and live wires electrocuting the monster. Letting out a hefty breath, Nick watched as Dakota approached his twisted reflection and began talking with it, seemingly calming it down and even turning it around to his point of view.

Slow and steady. It’s not a race. It was advice that he’d been given a dozen times if he’d been given it once when his demons were acting up. The journey back to a healthy state of mind was a long and arduous one, more akin to a marathon than a sprint. A real pain in the ass, but reality often was disappointing after all.

Putting that aside, Nick’s eyes nearly popped out of his damn skull when he saw the damn thing start mystically floating, then transform into some kinda bird-person. Like an Aaracokra, but also kind of a biker? Floating on a…mini-harp thing? “Okay what the fuck.” Nick breathed out, blinking rapidly. “Like, I know today’s been insane but there’s like…gotta be a limit, right?” After a moment, Nick just sighed. “God dammit why did I say that out loud?”

Rapidly wanting to move on from that craziness, Nick agreed with Dakota’s desire to make like a tree and get the hell out of there. The sooner they could move on from here, from what just happened, the sooner they could get out of this crazy place altogether.

As they exited the building, however, they came across a few of the others. The bigger guy who’d helped keep the door open, that guy from the cafeteria (given their current predicament, Nick couldn’t find it in him to even be a little angry over that incident-it felt like weeks ago by now), and the girl with the leather jacket who’d given him the idea to shield himself with his own earlier.

And the bigger guy was wearing some…very strange new clothes. He looked like some kind of priest, or cleric, even. Nick let him and Dakota talk, taking the time to try and psychologically re-center himself. All of this was a lot to take in.

Unfortunately, their talking immediately dove back into what the hell was going on, and Nick nodded to himself before paying closer attention. He didn’t want to be caught off-guard and missing some valuable info. He was surprised to hear a disembodied voice from somewhere, but once Barney mentioned somebody named ‘Miss Spindle’, Nick looked around and figured that was the flying Police Lady that he noticed once he looked up. Huh. Alright, today was just gonna keep going. Apparently they hadn’t reached the limit of insanity just yet.

Her mention of a ‘Persona’ made Nick’s head cock to the side. That they apparently represented a fighting spirit of sorts made sense, given that Dakota’s “Shadow” (That was a really good way of putting it, and Nick was totally stealing that from her) only disappeared once he’d shown sufficient willingness to fight back against his problems and make strides at improving his life. The idea that they could be corrupted by the ‘other stuff around you’, on the other hand, told Nick all he needed to know about what would happen if they found his.

A whole lotta Nothing Fuckin’ Good, is what.

Dakota, meanwhile, was apparently testing something out with his Persona, and with a somewhat awkward and questioning shout, sent a wave of revitalizing energy towards him and Vincent. Nick could feel his aches vanish almost instantly, and as the pain left his body, Nick’s mood lifted a bit. “Holy shit dude that was awesome…” He said quietly, in praise.

Unfortunately, the nifty lore-dump from Lady Basil Exposition would have to wait, as more prison goons were coming for them. If it weren’t for the eye in the sky she was providing, Nick wondered how little time they’d have to run. He admittedly wasn’t thrilled about leaving behind Dakota and the big guy, but if those Personas gave them the power to fight back, Nick wasn’t about to throw himself in their way when they had people better suited for the job.

Turning and running in the direction Spindle mentioned, Nick waved the others without Personas on. “Dunno about you guys, but I’m not sticking around for another fight!” Barely waiting for a response, he took off at record pace, no longer hobbled by the blows he’d taken earlier. As he ran, Nick turned to his fellow escapees. “Not to sound unconcerned about the whole crazy alternate world, or the giant demon things, or the magical powers, but uh…what are your names? I’m Nick. Figured it might be a good idea to be able to say something other than ‘Big Scary Dude’ and ‘Cafeteria Guy!’”

He’d purposefully not called Caelum an asshole, on the principle that pissing off the people who just might save your life was not a good idea. Best to play nice.

Soon, the end came. The end of the cell... and surely, their lives too. She should have stopped and let them kill her when she had the chance... now, with no hope for any of them, it was too late. And her ankle was sore beyond reason... she slumped to her knees, awaiting the rending pain and subsequent silence.

And then they fell through a magic hole. Why not, they were already dying... or... wait, they were falling... oh shit, they were falling! For the first time in a while, Alina panicked, yelling with primal fear, flailing desperately for something to grab hold of as a pinprick of light opened up into a flood beneath them- and they landed on a pile of moss.

She had not landed on her ankle directly. But hell if it wasn't still agonising to try and stand up on it. She needed a minute... or two, or... it was probably fully broken by now. Crap. The pain did eventually subside, though, and she managed to stand with most of her weight on her good foot, examining the cavern. It was... pretty. Better than the prison, and far better than that godawful cell.

And just as one of the girls asked what they'd do now, two more creatures showed up, these looking more like tiny demons than anything. Anti-cherubs? Hell, not more monsters... or? No, one was leaving, stating its intent to go and get its mistress, whilst the other just sat down and watched them, laughing every so often.

Okay, fine. Sure. She was present, she'd survived the twinned nightmares of the university-prison and the ash cell. She could handle this. What could she do first? She could, she could... ask questions? Maybe to the one who was still there, yeah.

'Where are we? And who is your friend getting?'

Jin landed on their butt for the second time today. If it even was still today. Soreness overtook their body as they got up. “Ugh. My poor ass.” They muttered under their breath, rubbing their aching backside. The three of them seemed to be unharmed, which was good enough. Jin had really thought they were going to die back there. Still, this could be out of the frying pan and into the fire, so their hackles were still raised.

The tiny demons showed up before Jin could speak. They were sort of cute, in a misshapen way. Like an ugly baby. One of them ran off saying something about “Gloriousness” in a way that made Jin very nervous for no discernible reason.

“I hate to even ask, but what fresh fuckery is this?” Jin looked to the two women, eyebrows raised, knowing they didn’t have answers but asking all the same. “Hey, you. Little thing.” Jin slowly approached the small demon, leaning down as if to talk to a child.

“Where are we, what are you, and who is Her Gloriousness?” Their dark eyes bore into the bulbous ones. “Answer in that order, please.”

Going through the motions was easy enough, since how many times had he seen some stalwart hero stay behind to buy time for his team in movies and such? When Barney actually turned away from the alleyway to face the incoming guards, however, he couldn’t suppress a nervous swallow. Here he stood with just one ally by his side against a small horde of enemies, the same whose ruthlessness had left the group bloody and broken not even half an hour ago, and whose strength could crack solid concrete, to say nothing of their abilities once transformed. Never in his life had he chosen to fight; instead he’d avoided conflict like the plague, quietly taking pride in himself as he ceded others their meaningless little victories. That meant that opposing his Shadow had been hard enough, but in a way that fight felt destined. This first real battle would be an entirely different beast.

Barney took a deep breath and steadied himself. He wouldn’t back down, but he couldn’t muster Dakota’s bravado, either. As invigorating as this new power was, he knew better than to think that it was the end-all be-all. His problems wouldn’t be solved in a day, and he couldn’t afford to be reckless. Even an ordinary knife had the power to kill, and anyone could wield one. It wasn’t power alone that determined success, but knowledge, competence, and experience. Right now, even as he brought out his wagon wheel and stood tall beside Dakota, he knew he had none of those things.

“But you have me.”

That voice again. Scratchy. Growly. Monstrous, but in the way one might expect of a villain in a kid’s show. Like groundwater it welled up to Barney from deep below, or maybe deep within. He watched, spellbound, as Dakota unleashed his Persona. The same feathered virtuoso that appeared to heal the small group’s wounds manifested with a flourish, revealing Dakota’s fighting spirit to the gathered crowd of prison guards in a grand display. Even the air itself seemed to move at Thamyris’ command.

“What are you waiting for?” the voice of Barney’s Persona grouched. “Let’s go!”

“R-right!” the bearded student stammered, quickly clearing his throat. “Let’s go, Samsa!”

A plume of blue flame erupted from the ground beneath him, and as if crawling out from the earth, Gregor Samsa appeared in all his verminous glory. He lifted Barney up beneath him, fangs and claws bared, his many eyes flaring with nuclear power. The prison guards responded in kind, contorting before releasing geysers of black smoke that unveiled the monsters within. Four of the creatures that Shadow Pondwater named Shax, and two of the leonine wheel demons he called Buer. Three each, if things broke down evenly. But Barney didn’t get time to strategize.

Immediately two of the stork monsters returned Thamyris the favor by beating their own wings. Crescent-shaped dark blades sped toward the defenders, and Barney knelt to get out of their way. Kneeling down for balance he called out, “Left!” and Samsa veered sideways, out of the path of one of the Eiha. The second was already too close to coordinate another dodge, however, and it struck the pair head-on. “Ouch, dangit!” It hurt a lot more than it should have, eliciting a splash of blood as he was knocked down. He only got to his knees before the Buer swung in like a flaming boomerang, smashing into his wheel with cloven feet before flying back to its original position. Blocking mitigated the force, leaving Barney still intact, so even with a fresh wound he was beyond ready to dish out some damage of his own. “My turn!”

Except it wasn’t. Rather than wait for him to come and smack them with his wheel, the demons attacked again. One Shax unwound its serpentine neck and lashed out like a bladed flail, putting Barney on the defensive long enough for a narrowly missed Eiha to prompt an emergency dodge, which ended with another spin kick from the Buer. “Gah!” he growled, paralyzed by indecision. These monsters were already having a field day with him. What was he going to do?!”

“Hey!” Spindle’s voice blasted his ear through her loop of thread. “That ain’t a shield, dude! Stop tryin’ to block ‘em and hit those stinkin’ varmints!” Barney grimaced, barely suppressing the urge to complain that he was trying. This isn’t working! he fretted, starting to panic.

“Because you’re fighting on their terms.”

Barely avoiding another attack, Barney took a swing at the marauding Buer, but it got out of range before he could make contact. Desperate for guidance, he listened as he continued to fight.

“You are no knight in shining armor,” Samsa hissed at him. “I am not your steed. And we are not defenders. We’re meant to ATTACK!”

A herculean effort from Barney turned a near-certain laceration into a glancing blow. “Then attack!”

“I move at your command!” his Persona growled. “You can’t just stand atop me, take your turns, and expect me to do all the work for you. Have me cover you, then in there and mess them up!”

“How!?” Barney hissed through gritted teeth.

“Stop overthinking and do it! You know the word!”

“I…” Barney’s wide eyes watched the Buer spinning up, ready for another burning revolution. Then his brows furrowed, and his muscles sprang into action. “Frei!”

Samsa buried his claws in the ground to steady himself, then unleashed a wave of frothing, sizzling, flesh-eating nuclear energy. It swept across the dirt like a wave over the shore and erupted beneath the Buer, stopping it in its tracks. The Shaxes attacked, sending forth their projectiles, but rather than dodge or try to block, Barney leaped forward, using Samsa like a springboard to soar through the air with his coattails flapping in the wind. He fell upon the Buer with his wheel upheld and smashed it into the dirt beneath its edge. As it roared in pain the nearest Shax prepared another spell, but this time it was the one getting stopped before it could start. A bash with the wheel threw it off balance, and then Barney aimed a kick to topple it just as Vincent had done earlier. By that time the other Shax unwound its neck for another scything swipe, but Barney turned with his hand extended. “Nail it, Samsa!”

With a snarl his Persona appeared beside him, swinging its bladed pedipalps to skewer the stork like a Thanksgiving turkey. Something odd about the heavy blow seemed to strike fear into the creature, and never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Barney followed up with a hearty battle cry and a vertical overhead slam of his wheel. He kicked it in the head while it was down for good measure, and with a shrill cry the demon melted away into shadow.

“Nice!” Spindle called down through the wire. “One down, five to go!”

Barney watched the demon die for a moment, ecstatic, before turning back to the others. If offense was the ticket, he’d keep it up. To avoid being surrounded he backpedaled toward Dakota, but not so much as to leave his effective range. One down, five to go, he repeated in his mind, and ran forward.

In the wake of defeating the Monster Dakota, Vincent had been quiet, reverting back to his silent-but-deadly aura from earlier that day. His eyes glazed over, barely reacting to Dakota's transformation, the appearance of his Persona, the explanation of both those things, he hardly registered the restoration Dakota gave him. It was like he was going through the motions, his body on auto-pilot while his mind tried to turn the events over in his head or had just plain shut down over how surreal it all was. Not helped by the pain that was steadily creeping back into his nerves as if to remind him that yes, all this was actually happening.

Only when the newly formed group he was in was being ushered elsewhere with another threat on their heels did Vincent snap back into his own head. And with it came a laugh. A short, harsh bark, like Vincent just remembered a joke from yesterday or a funny anecdote he encountered earlier.

"Man! Wow! Can you believe it?" Vincent said enthusiastically to everyone around him. "All this... it, it almost feels good! Good to just, have to worry about something else for a change! Something big and weird that just squashes any other crap I've got, you know?!" Vincent had become a walking rollercoaster of high peaks and low valleys, and during this new bit of mania he surged ahead, brushing past everyone else to assume a position near the front, tossing out, "Vincent!" in reply to Nick's question. "Hey, does anyone see another Me around here? I would so get in on that, that 'Pasonie' action!" Of course, the supernatural pull that the others had towards their Shadows was lacking in him, but he had no way to know that.

As Spindle guided everyone towards the prison's entrance, down that alleyway to the court, Vincent took the lead. "Stay behind me, everyone," he called to the Pasonie-less group, thinking that the reason to do so was obvious. He slowed as they neared the court, keeping his eyes to any potential threats ahead. Hopefully someone was paying a bit more attention to what Spindle said, since Vincent wasn't sure where to go from here. It looked to him like they ran into a dead end.

Dakota's stomach felt a bit uneasy, seeing the horrific creatures come back into view from their more humanlike shells. Jacket easily weighed down enough by swaying chains, their returned gusts were boasts that didn't phase him the same way they had back with Pondwater. However, as their attacks came his way, it brought all those panics back. A startled yelp was what came out of brave little Dakota in response, falling flat to the ground and finding a few of his out-of-place hairs getting a too close for comfort trims as the crescent blades flew overhead, crashing into the entertainment hall. Startled, but not wanting to let anyone down, he wondered why the giant bird of his wasn't doing anything. "Hey, Thamyris?! Fight the guys?"

"Fighting alone would simply cause us to be torn apart," It informed succinctly. "Our combined effort and strategy will be the only way to prevail!"

Eyes nearing bulging out of his head as he pushed himself up, he grew more worried. "You sayin' I've gotta go fight 'em, too?!" Getting a nod in response, he glanced towards the Shaxes, suddenly feeling like he had the stinking end of the deal. "Dang it... I thought it'd be like Pokémon or something, at least!" His complaints didn't have time to sit, as these demons didn't waste time with exposition. Rather, they raked more of those crescent-shaped attacks his way, which he attempted to dart left to avoid but ended up getting his torso sliced, the spark of pain and spurt of blood causing him to become a lot more alert. "Gah! D-Dia again, doitdoitdoit!"

Thamyris, above him, rained the healing spell down and stopped his bleeding almost immediately, but brought a complaint with it. "This is no game! Keep sharp, and press forward, or else you'll end up in pieces!"

Swearing in his mind, Dakota let out a grunt of annoyance but knew he didn't have much choice. "Alright, fine!" He spoke in frustration, gripping his mic stand tighter. He couldn't let Barney do all the fighting, and he didn't want these things catching up to the guys, either. Trying to rebuild the confidence he thought he'd had, his mind defaulted to a one-liner as he accepted he'd have to fight. "Let's rock!"

Though trying to keep a brave face, his original idea of rushing the Shaxes would have to wait; A burning creature approaching, A Buer, not that he'd recall, sent him on high-alert. Although with it's approaching speed, he wasn't quite sure on how to handle the situation. That being said, if he was the host and Thamyris was his fighting spirit, then he couldn't afford to be turned into a crisp directly. His thoughts willing his Persona, Thamyris stood in front of Dakota and brought his arms out wide, talons at the end of each slamming into the Buer as it got close and stopped it cold in it's tracks, despite sliding backwards slightly. It's flames burned, and Dakota felt that pain directly, even if his body wasn't getting flayed.

Trying to use such pain as motivation, he reacted with an obvious intent of getting it the hell away. twisting it's arms, Thamyris spun the Buer in place with a strong movement, before delivering a firm upwards kick that sent the lion-head soaring upwards. Not nearly enough to destroy it, but it allowed for a moment of breathing room, which brought the Shaxes to Dakota's attention. No way in hell he was dealing with those projectiles again, deciding to take the breather as a chance to push forward.

Traversing by Dakota's own thoughts, Thamyris went high while he stayed earthbound. This distracted the Shaxes enough to split their attention, Dakota taking advantage by rushing towards the one that craned itself upwards to focus his airborne Persona. Deciding to not hit it with full force, he instead brought his mic stand out, catching the Shax by it's neck and tugging it sideways, causing it to stumble to regain balance, but also causing it's attention to fully be on him again. Which was just as planned.

Having cut the view between him and the farther Shax, it let out a sound of annoyance, but Dakota had no time for it. Gesturing his hand out with his fingers spread but pointed forwards, it tightened and resembled a claw. "Shred it, Thamyris!"

The farther Shax was met with a arm-crossed Persona descending upon it with one leg extended, crashing into it and crumpling it's neck downwards, it's body getting crushed against the ground. The pressure caused it to pop like a balloon, splattering into a bunch of shadowy mass than slunk away into nothingness. A victory in close-range against the weaker ranged attacker, but being close didn't mean they were out. Dakota had to block with his weapon as the second Shax lashed out at him, the boy quickly retreating backwards to gain a little room as he didn't realize just how aggressive these things could be up close.

It would have been the perfect opportunity to side-wind it, but before Dakota's eyes, Thamyris suffered a similar fate to demon it had crushed. The Buer barreled down from the sky and crashed into his Persona, slamming it into the ground as it's fiery body caused even more damage. This caused Dakota to plummet backwards, reeling from pain passed to him, which for a moment kept him away from the Shax, but didn't stop the building pain from the flames. He had to think quickly, but burning without even being on fire caused immense stress, and made even the most meager of planning extremely difficult.

However, a piece of his arsenal he hadn't tried yet came to mind. He'd heard it before, back when Thamyris mentioned their power. He practically cried out for his Persona to use that spell, whatever it might do, as long as it punished the Buer trying to turn them to ash. "Garu!"

Having been guarding itself with it's arms, Thamyris took the command and quickly rolled with it. Bringing it's arms forward, talons on both ends smashed into the Buer, knocking it far enough for Thamyris to glide itself back and away from the ground. It began to rise upwards as soon as it had the room, mighty wings swinging forward and summoning forth a magical wind directly on the Buer; The air surrounding the demon shifting as powerful gusts of wind tore at it from all directions, causing it to violently shake about as the flames on it's head were momentarily extinguished, the creature's face torn from the sheer force Thamyris' winds.

"Hell yeah!" Dakota cheered, but was quickly interrupted by the Shax in front of him coming in to take a bite of his hand, recoiling it not being enough to stop it's long neck from barging forth to try and tear him apart. Dakota brought his mic stand up to smack it aside, but it simply began to twist around his weapon, causing a momentary panic that luckily brought Thamyris his way: The Persona grabbing the Shax by one of it's wings, before jamming a talon into it's eye. The creature shook and screeched from pain, which gave Dakota enough of a chance to stand, wanting revenge himself. Tightening his grip, he prepped his weapon as Thamyris kicked the Shax forward, the creature still screeching from it's eye and not having much of a chance to react as Dakota took a cold, hard swing and bashed it, causing a second Shax to turn into more shadowy goop.

Breathing heavily, Dakota felt victorious in a sense, but knew he was forgetting something in his seconds of relaxation. That Buer, still plenty alive, had flared up and reeled back towards Thamyris again, this time bashing the Persona in the back, which smacked the directly into Dakota before disappearing, leaving the boy to roll backwards far enough to literally end up back with Barney, his stop ending with him on his shoulders, tipping backwards one more time to end laying on his stomach, groaning in agony with his weapon laid off to the side.

"Christ," He managed to grumble, tilting his head to look towards the demon preparing itself again. "Thamyris, you got another Dia? Or two...? Maybe three?"

His Persona reappeared above him, managing to give him a singular heal, which did not fully heal his tingling skin from the feeling of flames, or his aching neck from the rolling bullshit he just endured. "If we excessively heal, we won't be able to fend off anything with spells." Thamyris informed. "I'd suggest sucking it up and finishing this quickly."

At least well enough to stand, Dakota wasn't pleased by this at all. "That's a pain in the ass response! What happened to heeding my command, or whatever?" Not getting a response, he assumed this was a method for his Persona to say that it'd be wiser to use Garu instead of fully healing. But he wasn't the one in pain here! Or was he? Dakota wasn't sure if his Persona could actually feel pain, or if it was all being transferred to him. For now, he decided to give up on arguing about it, instead wanting revenge on the creature that knocked him over.

"Hey, so far so good, yeah? We're alive." He spoke to Barney, noting that they'd managed to cut down the ranks halfway. Leaving two of those fast Buer's, and one of those annoying Shaxes left. And Dakota already knew one of those Buer's had signed their death sentence. Knowing there wasn't much time for chatter, he picked up his mic stand and took a deep breath. They were getting through this, and before long they'd catch up with the others. He just had to man up and keep fighting for now, if he ever wanted out of here.

He felt like he'd probably sleep a few days after all this was over, even with the healing the mental exhaustion from this madness was going to make him crash hard.

In response to his complaints, Spindle complimented him, and even assured him he’d get his own Persona soon. “Noted. Thank you,” he retorted curtly, though politely. He was too tired to mince words, and silently – besides his panting – trekked alongside the other two. He listened curiously to Spindle’s explanations, intrigued at the weapons and so-called Personas that could appear and disappear as was convenient. “I see the clothes stay though,” he commented with a nod at Barney.

What Spindle said about territory got him thinking. If each Shadow had their own territory, then they would be safe as long as they went outside of those, right? But wasn’t the whole prison complex Pondwater’s as well? It seemed to him that even these Shadows could be in a sort of landlord-tenant relationship. He had no idea how that worked, but now wasn’t the time to find out.

When they came across a guard, Caelum stopped suddenly, stumbling a bit as he tried to keep back. Barney immediately went into action with his new powers, and the show was rather impressive. Those powers truly were appealing, and if Spindle was right that he would get his own, it could not come too soon.

They met some of the others at a club house of all places. One those other students was sporting a new outfit and his very own Persona as well – a harpy, it looked like. Spindle also briefly explained about this other world, though Caelum truthfully didn’t know how an apparently physical place could be formed out of people’s thoughts. It sounded like the subconscious, but he only knew the gist of that concept, and it wasn’t supposed to be manifested in reality – or a semblance of it – anyway. Maybe he could check out some books about it later.

As was becoming the trend, a bunch of new enemies appeared, and they were chased away. Well, Spindle, Barney, and that other guy stayed behind to fight, while the rest of them sped away. Lagging slightly behind the now healed Vincent and Nick, he introduced himself briefly, still short of breath. “It’s – Caelum,” he stated, tone tense, words interrupted by a brief huff due to being on the run.

He coughed a disbelieving laugh when Vincent expressed his enthusiasm. “Can’t say – I’m exhilarated,” he puffed, “But I’d not – oppose one of those.” He had no problem staying behind Vincent. In fact, even if his greatest wish was to overtake him, Caelum doubted he could manage it just then. When they stopped near the basketball court, he stopped, bending down to rest his palms against his knees as he regained his breath. He’d not got much of a breather when they’d met at the club, after all, and his stamina was only so-so.