The moment that Spindle managed the capture Nick's shadow, the whole thing was a wrap. Everyone with even an ounce of strength to spare joined the assault to lay the hurting down, and none more so than Lorenzo. Despite his complaints about insufficient weaponry, the punkish stranger who sprinted in out of the blue smacked the monster silly with that pipe of his, fighting like he had something to prove. Barney didn't look that gift horse in the mouth, though; with his and Dakota's energy depleted, they needed every strong hand they could get. Besides, if it turned out that the guy spent any more time in this cognitive hellscape than his group, a profound need to vent some pent-up aggression seemed rather understandable.

If Lorenzo expected to actually take this abomination down, however, he was mistaken. Whether through reflection on his own awakening or just solid intuition, Barney knew that nobody's efforts mattered in this confrontation quite so much as Nick's. If Spindle's rushed explanations were to be believed, after all, this was his dark side. The shadow within his own heart, locked up and away from the outside world. Its questions were Nick's to answer, it challenges were his to overcome, and its existence was his to destroy. This thing, he'd realized, seemed to everything wrong with himself, the personfication of the hatred and disgust and anguish deep within, and it needed to go. The young man had already manifested new equipment, the warlike clothes and weaponry that seemingly symbolizes his will to fight, and now, with extreme prejudice, Nick went all the way. With his warhammer he caved in his shadow's cranium in an explosive burst of sticky, chunky tar.

As the remains of its head splattered across the walls of Nick's house, the shadow collapsed in on itself. It sagged and melted like a giant gummy bear left too long in the sun, a defeated and shapeless mass. As it wallowed downward Barney could see Nick behind it, although what exactly the other guy held in his hand, Barney couldn't quite tell. Either way, he could only watch as his new acquaintance crushed the object in his fist. Blue flames swirled outward, washing over Nick before flaring up behind him in a geyser of brilliant light. When it faded, Barney saw nothing at first, but realized after a moment that something stood behind Nick after all--something enormous. Its features and details eluded him completely, other than its poncho and hat, which left the elongated entity so unsettlingly obscure that an inadvertent shiver went down Barney's spine. It seemed more like an actual vengeful spirit than either of the more animalistic Persona's he'd seen so far, but when Nick gave his command, the Dark Watcher complied. It pulverized the remnants of Nick's shadow with a single, unceremonious blow, then disappeared. With it went the barrier of accursed energy all around the makeshift battlefield, leaving the junkyard of lost property worse for wear but finally at peace.

Barney and Dakota moved together to help Nick up, one Persona user under each of their new comrade's arms. "Tell me about it. This stuff takes a lot outta you," the bearded cleric groaned, his own fatigue only worsened by the brief but furious encounter. Nevertheless, he managed to put on a reassuring smile as he clapped a hand on Nick's shoulder. "That aside, you did it, man! Beat the hell outta that freaky thing and got your own Persona. You're one of us now." Saying it like he represented some long-standing, reputable organization was a bit disingenuous, since the Persona-wielding coalition of Rhett & Rynsburger only came into being a few minutes ago, but to Barney it still felt like he'd gained a new brother in arms. Sure, this guy might technically be a stranger to him, but misery makes strange bedfellows, and what they'd already been through seemed like more than enough to plant the seed of a beautiful friendship forged in fire. After going through his own awakening, and hearing snippets of the conflict inherent to Nick's, it sounded like both could use a friend right now.

When a blue glow caught his eye, Barney turned to see Spindle sitting on an overturned wardrobe nearby, arms crossed and a look of approval on her smiling face. "Nice job, fellas! That's one more Persona in the books. Every one y'all get makes it that much more likely you're gettin' outta here in one piece." The police girl turned her attention to Lorenzo, the man of mystery who'd crashed the party at the perfect time. "Howdy! Wasn't tryin' to forget about you or nothin'. Call me Spindle. I reckon you fell through the cracks sometime earlier, huh? Well, I'll be darned. Musta taken a whole lotta gumption to get around by yourself. Still, you oughta buddy up with us for now. More the merrier, right?"

Although Lorenzo's arrival served to further stuff Barney's head with questions, he figured that they could get to the bottom of the situation later. Right now, they had more practical concerns. "More company's great and all, but we're still not out of the woods yet. Do you know where we need to go, Miss Spindle?"

The police girl nodded. "Uh huh. The entrance to the prison. It ain't so well guarded, so as long as we mosey right along the walls, we might be able to slip past." She pointed north through the junkyard, where its miscellaneous heaps thinned and finally came to a stop against another length of chain-link fence. "I'm gonna stay low with y'all so the guard towers don't spot me. Once you got your breath, let's get a move on."

In short order the seven set off along Spindle's prescribed path. With all of them tired from all the action that the Prison of Indictment put them through and three exhausted by their awakenings to boot, they moved slowly and cautiously. Barney could walk well enough by pacing himself and didn't think that reaching the jail's entrance would be an issue, but any run-ins with guards could spell disaster for the group. None of those who met Pondwater face to face could forget the others who disappeared during or after the mad dash through the Proving Grounds, either. Even for their eye in the sky there had been no further sightings of Alina, Harriette, Jin, or Mila. Barney wanted to believe that they could make it on their own, especially after finding out Lorenzo apparently did just that, but this 'cognitive world' was honestly ridiculous. If not for a whole lot of help and a serious streak of luck, he probably wouldn't be around, either. Still, whatever the odds might be, Barney kept an eye out for any sign of the four whenever he scanned his surroundings for guards.

After a good while and a couple close calls, Barney, Dakota, Nick, Caelum, Vincent, Lorenzo, and Spindle reached the prison entrance. Throughout the journey Barney had wondered why exactly the police girl would conclude that their best chance of escape lay at what was probably the prison's most-guarded area, but seeing it for himself explained a lot. Instead of a rode with gates, the great walls bordered a large chasm in the ground, its sheer walls extending a good fifty feet downward to the surface of the river in its depths. As the canyon went further into the prison it got shallower, creating a multi-tiered series of rapids and low waterfalls that spilled outward from an immense reflecting pool at ground level, which appeared to go all the way to the dreadful courthouse in the place's center. The whole spectacle confused Barney until his stealthy procession got closer, nearing the guard booth on the near side of the chasm. Then, a fresh wave of despicable symbolism became clear to him. A bridge crossed the reflecting pool right at the edge of the first waterfall, and a number of shadows crouched atop it, twice as large as any seen so far and wielding huge, shiny fishing rods. Dressed to the nines in flashy, formal attire and wearing big, toothy smiles on their otherwise featureless black faces, the creatures baited their hooks with certificates and degrees before casting their lures into the water below. When Barney looked down, he saw people down in the water, seemingly normal except for the belts, chains, and other such restraints that bound them, forcing them to twist their bodies to swim in a sickeningly fishlike fashion. As Barney looked on, aghast, the people attempted to launch themselves upstream in order to get at the shadows' bait, and the moment any of them happened to grab onto a hook, the shadow whisked the victim up out of the river and into a waiting cage the size of a cargo container to flop and squirm among the rest of its catch.

"Eugh." Barney shudder, trying to shut out the appalling scene on the basis of it not being real. He and the others had taken refuge behind a couple parked vehicles not too far from either the chasm edge or the guard booth, but a couple sentries stood in their way both in and outside the checkpoint. Many more hung around the chasm railing, spectators who would come running at the first sign of trouble. Even if it was neither intended nor expected that prisoners would pass this way, security remained tighter than anyone would have liked. "What now?" he asked. "Are we gonna try to sneak through 'em? Distract 'em? What about the others? They're still in here somewhere. We can't just leave 'em, right?"

Spindle's face betrayed her uncertainty. "...I know," she murmured, pointedly keeping her voice down. "I don't wanna leave 'em, but we ain't exactly fit to scour the place. I wanna say just hunker down here for a bit while I fly up to try an' find 'em, but if we get caught, our goose is cooked." She tried to take stock of all the guards watching the fishing jamboree, but only managed to come up with 'too many to count'. Her Odradek could disable a couple enemies, but based on her testimony couldn't do much against a horde of the things, and the other Persona users couldn't fight right now either. Barney took deep breaths, trying to think of something. This was quite the pickle.

@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN @Lugubrious

Lorenzo Pavorotti

Lorenzo didn’t feel that he was not doing much damage to the creature; but he thought he was helping somewhat with beating the thing with his pipe. “ Give it a good beating, and send it back to wherever it came from.” Lorenzo screamed out trying to protect the others from the beast’s incoming attacks. However the thing was much more resistant than he thought; it seemed to him that Nick would be the only one that could beat this thing. “ I’m so damn useless.” He cursed himself, feeling more and more useless. The thought of being left for dead on the beach came into his mind; if he can’t defend himself then how was going to defend others. “ This thing has gotta have a weak spot.” He scanned the creature wondering if he could do anything to help Nick. But it seemed Nick had things under control; a strange figure welding a staff was coming towards the binded creature.

“ What the fuck?” He thought while keeping his distance between the figure and the creature. Watching in amazement as the creature was turned into a disgusting pile. “ So is that it? Can we get out of here?” Asking the others with a raised brow. But it seemed that this would not be the end of this hellish experience. “ What is a Persona?” Lorenzo was still confused on what was going on. “ Eh my name is Lorenzo; Nice to meetcha.” The punk kid said putting out his hand to shake the woman’s hand. It seemed that his questions were on the back burner until they are safe and sound. Starting to walk at a quick pace with the rest of the group; he did not want to get lost in this unpleasant place. Scanning the area for guards that were patrolling the grounds. He couldn’t see any so far; but he was going to be vigilant in case they are caught unaware.

Watching the spectacle of the shadows fishing for the poor people at the bottom of the canyon; a part of Lorenzo wanted to run over and wail on them. But knew that he wouldn’t get close thanks to the guards near the chasm. And also the fact that his only weapon was a lead pipe. Trying to think of something that could help them get past the guards and shadows; scanning the area for any opening they could use to sneak past the security.

Nick happily took the offered arms, pushing himself to his feet while still taking deep breaths. He would admit to not paying too much attention to Spindle's introduction to the new guy, Lorenzo, but he gave the other man a grateful nod and a thumbs up while he was still trying to get his breath.

He did catch that they were headed towards the entrance of the prison, though. He nodded along, not really sure if that was the best idea, but they'd gotten along well so far with her advice, so bucking the trend now would probably just get them all killed. "Slip right under their noses, then?" He mused. As much as he'd miss the birds-eye-view guidance they'd gotten, Spindle would definitely be more noticeable up in the sky than she would down on the ground, so that part of the plan made sense to him.

Once he'd managed to mostly get into a workable condition from the exertion of his summoning, Nick nodded for the group to get moving. Part of him hated holding everybody up, but in a situation like this, being the one to get them all killed because they were slowing down for him while they snuck around would probably be more embarrassing.

Once they'd finally made it to the entrance, Nick breathed a small sigh of relief. They weren't out of the woods yet, but this was a good start-

And then he saw the giant chasm. "You gotta be shittin' me..." he breathed out, frustrated. "Get through all that just to find a giant hole in the ground? Uh, no offense." He hastily added to avoid annoying Spindle. "Just...was hoping it'd be a little easier after we got out, not...this." He said, gesturing to the canyon in front of them.

The symbolism of the fishermen on the bridge wasn't lost on Nick, though he chose not to comment on it in a rare display of self-control. He was, like the others, stumped on ideas, and that he wasn't quiet about. "Other than trying to shoot our way out, I got nothing. Even then, I don't think that's a workable idea."

^{∎̵͍̅͜∎̵̰̽̏͝∎̷̢̻̞̂∎̸̨̻̹̈∎̵̰͚̝͆∎̷̮̋̄̚ ̵͆ : ̷?̷ ̶?̷ ̷h̸o̴u̴r̸s̶}
The woman, mysterious to all but one of the underground visitors, had initially been smiling. A serene expression of divine grace. She nodded happily when Alina obeyed her minion’s words, though she didn’t seem to mind that Harriette had neglected to kneel. In fact the red haired woman had done nothing but stand there frozen in place, even when Alina touched her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

However, the third of her visitors drew out a different reaction. This person, whose gender ‘Her Gloriousness’ neither knew nor cared about, was essentially back-talking her. On either side of her, the Imps were gobsmacked into silence. No one had ever treated their mistress this way before. Slowly, like an impending doom, the yellow-eyed goddess’ expression changed into one of pure contempt.

She drew in a lofty sigh, turning away from the group. ”Such disrespect, and after I had come all the way up here to greet you all personally,” she said. She did not answer Jin, she hardly even acknowledged them then, but as she began to walk back the way she came she lifted a hand in the air. Instantly it drew the Imps’ attention.

”Bring Ms. Sanford and Ms. Moore to the palace,” she commanded them. She glanced over her shoulder at Jin, though it was like she wasn’t actually recognizing a human being standing there.

”And kill that one.”

The Imps’ faces split open toothy and wide, malicious grins on their features - and then they dove forward, claws outstretched.

Jin’s eyes went wide at “Her Gloriousness” and the command. “I knew you were bad news.” And then they took off, past Alina and Harriette. Alina likely wasn’t going to be much use, and while Harriette seemed like she had a good head on her shoulders, something about this Glorious creature had definitely put her in a bad spot. Or perhaps her brain had just given in, due to all the insanity.

In any case, Jin was alone and without help again. Same shit, different day. They bolted through a large field of beautiful flowers, and fled further toward the back of the cave. Seeing no obvious way to defend themself, they started crouching in the dirt and picking up sizable rocks. The demons continued to rush forward, cackling all the while.

Jin stood up with an armful of rocks tucked to their chest. Their brown eyes narrowed, and they let one fly. It scored a direct hit on one little demon’s forehead.

“OW!” It screeched, clutching its head. A thin rivulet of green blood dripped between its fingers.

Jin grinned triumphantly. Throwing things accurately was just physics in action, so it wasn’t too hard. “Leave me the fuck alone, short green and ugly!”

‘Wh-what?’

Suddenly, the imps were asked to kill Jin. Not her or Harriette, but the one person who had talked back to her. And... and Jin ran off without them. Which made sense. She wasn’t able to fight these... imps.

Was she? She’d been useless against the ash creatures... now she was about to be useless against something even weaker? Jin was at least throwing rocks at them, and managing to hurt them. If she did nothing-

Jin could die if she did nothing.

No, that wasn’t enough motivation. Swallowing her fear, she told herself that Jin was going to die if she didn’t help. And then, at a limping pace, she moved forward, toward another set of rocks. Something smaller... but not too small. Heavy enough to make a hit count, since she couldn’t hit hard on her own. Maybe... something with a point? That meant that more force was concentrated into an impact. It might help crack their skulls... oh God, the mental image alone was horrible.

Jin would die if she did nothing.

‘Jin will die if I don’t help.’

She found a decent enough rock. Pointy, kind of sharp. She had to carry it with two hands, but it’d help. And then... and then she moved forward, toward the imps. If she could get the drop on them, if she was just quiet enough to not be heard... she could help save Jin.

For the moment Alina went unseen, the Imps were more preoccupied with Jin. Enraged they flew circles around Jin, diving in to rip deep with their claws and then jetting back out of range. It was a simple and effective strategy that would eventually prove deadly if nothing was done.

Jin tried to dodge the imps’ strikes, and was briefly successful. However, they couldn’t dodge forever. One imp landed a deep scratch on their arm, tearing through their uniform like it was tissue paper. “GAH!” Jin cried out in pain. As if spurred on by the bloodlust, the rest of the imps closed in, diving and dipping in faster and faster.

Jin’s screams continued, but they continued to throw rocks despite the pain. “You - won’t… I’m not gonna… die here.” But the scratches were bloody, and Jin was starting to wear down quick.

As Alina silently approached the demons to enact her plan, Harriette was finally coming to after being locked in a trance of panic. She should have realized after seeing the Pondwater double that this was some kind of crazy upside down world, complete with caricatures of people from the real world.

Harriette's eyes followed the Rowen doppleganger as she casually walked away. Once she reached one of the cavern's mouths, the same that she had entered from, she turned to regard the three humans that had fallen into her territory. Maybe she expected that her order would have been followed through already, but either way Rowen seemed surprised that the group hadn't just rolled over and let the Imps manhandle them.

"Oh, looks like they need a little help over there," she said aloud. She snapped her fingers, and two more Imps appeared from a burst of smoke. They flew forward while laughing and gnashing their teeth, one headed for each of the girls and squashing Alina's plan for a surprise attack. There was a surprising amount of strength in their little bodies as they clawed at Harriette and Alina, grabbing the two and attempting to pull them in the direction their Mistress had headed.

Ah- that was bad. She couldn’t just- but if she wanted to do something to help Jin, she had to. Rocks worked, she’d seen it. She could... she could do it. It hurt, the imp was drawing blood as it pulled at her, and laughing, it was laughing at her, but she could do it.

She lifted the rock over her head, then brought it down.

And missed. Or, the imp dodged, really. But she managed to hit its arm.

There was... a noise. Not a crunch, as she might have gotten. More like a squelchy rip, as its flesh arm opened up and started to spill green blood. Everywhere. A lot of it. Oh. That wasn’t great. It looked bad. That was bad. She had hurt it. Not enough. She was still being dragged. It. She.

No.

The demon paid no heed to it's wound, keeping it's grip like a vice on Alina. Harriette too was trapped in another Imp's grasp, and no matter how much she struggled or dug her heels in she still kept being dragged forward.

"Let go!" she screamed, "let go! The Imp just cackled, digging its claws in. Rowen's smile grew and grew as the ladies were dragged closer. She threw both of her arms out in a dark facsimile of a welcoming embrace.

"Stop this!" Harriette cried, pulling against the iron grip, blood dribbling down from her wrist and forearm. "You - are you going to stoop this low? Kidnap us and let them die?!" Harriette's words did not fall on deaf ears, but the shadow's response was steeped in laughter.

"Why not?" she said.

Dread filled Harriette. She thought this couldn't be the same Rowen she had been dealing with all this time, but that didn't seem right. Rowen had always been this cruel, hadn't she. Harriette just hadn't realized it until she was down here with the professor's shadow, and someone's life was on the line. Jin... they were going to die there in the cave, and she and Alina were next. There would be nothing good going on at the 'palace' they were being taken to. They would die, one way or another.

You can fight back.

The voice cut through the echoing laughter, and the blood rushing in Harriette's ears. It came from somewhere deep inside of her, clear as a bell. She sucked in a breath as pain began to blossom from her core.

You don't have to listen to her. Shut her out.

I can't... Harriette thought, squeezing her eyes shut. Tears started to fall. You don't know what she'll do to me.

And you will just let her do it? You will roll over and die?

The longer Harriette conversed with the voice in her head, the more intense the pain grew. No, no she didn't want to die! She didn't want any of them to die! But what could she do?!

Say it.

Say what?! Please, help me! Harriette cried out again, the pain sending her to her knees. It didn't stop the Imp attached to her from pulling her forward. Rowen tipped her head curiously. "Oho? What's this now?"

Following whatever she orders, living everyday afraid... reject it all.

Say you will take your life back! Say you will fight for yourself!

"I..." Harriette forced her eyes open, finding the face of her tormentor's shadow over her. That damn fake smile. Harriette summoned all the strength in her body, managing to wrench her arm away from the Imp and scoot away. "I'm not going with you," she hissed, shakily taking to her feet. "I'm... I'm not going to let you get your way this time!"

You know what to do.

Somehow, she did. Harriette growled, jamming her fist into her own chest. There was something inside of her that really, really hurt, and she had to get rid of it. She fished around until she took hold of something, and a bolt of pain shook her body.

It was strange, how time almost seemed to slow down then. The expression on the shadow-Rowen's face was darkening, growing fierce and stormy as the facade of the kind goddess broke apart. She realized that she did not have time to play, and whatever was happening now was spurring her to take immediate action. She was fast, even in slow-mo, and raised her arm up to summon a weighty scepter. Harriette's eyes widened. She knew that she was about to be killed. She withdrew her hand from her chest, and in her grasp was a dark lump, heaving as though it were alive. Harriette squeezed it harder and harder until it burst.

Say my name!

"Come, Hester!"

Energy exploded out from where the lump was crushed, dark miasma that quickly chilled and turned hard and translucent. The ice spread into a huge wall, separating the underground's mistress from it's intruders. The force of the explosion echoed around the cavern while a figure bloomed into life in front of Harriette. Black, white, and red, it was cold inorganic shapes wrapped into the form of a faceless woman. It radiated a frosty energy, but when it looked back over its shoulder slightly at Harriette the redhead thought she could sense a smile in that void of a face it sported.

Good. Now, we should not dally.

"What the hell..." Harriette whispered, backing away from the ice wall. She looked down at herself, where her clothes had transformed from the tattered skirt and blouse into something more rugged and revealing. An olive drab jacket with short sleeves and a long swallow-tail back appeared on her top half, while the lower half featured matching shorts and vibrant red fishnets running the length of her legs. Her hands and feet were covered with black gloves and boots adorned with bold red lipstick marks. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, with barrettes of bird wings on either side of it. There was something dangling from around her neck, but Harriette didn't look at it too closely. She looked back to her Persona. Hester. She had to leave reason behind right now and trust this thing. It was the only option, but beyond that Harriette felt connected to it. And it was right, they should escape while they still could... but Harriette was momentarily paralyzed with emotion. She was still afraid, but now there was resolve as well. And a little hope.

The Imps had frozen in confusion, but after things had settled and they realized their master was blocked off they rushed to the wall and started beating on it, screeching all the while. Cracks were just beginning to form, and which was more than enough to push Harriette into action. She turned on her heel and went to Jin's side, Hester floating gently behind her.

"A-are you alright?" She asked, her hands hovering over Jin's form. "Can you stand?"

Jin was on the ground, curled in the fetal position. They were covered with deep scratches, some of them leaking blood. They blinked wet eyes open at Harriette's voice.

"I… I think so?" Shakily they rose to their feet, stumbling once but then standing. "I've had worse." That was a lie. "Whoa!" Jin stared at Harriette's new clothes, eyes wide. "What happened to you?"

“Honestly, I’m not sure. But we can worry about it later.”

Jin nodded. “Works for me.” They looked around, trying to find some kind of way out. “There!” There was a small gap in the cave wall. It looked quite narrow, but all three of them should be able to just squeeze through. “I think we can go out there.” They wasted no time in moving toward the escape route. Albeit slowly; they looked to be in great pain.

The events were difficult for Alina to process. A shockwave, a rush of cold- and just like that, the imp dragging her was distracted, desperately keening to get back to its mistress, who... she didn’t quite know. Apparently, Harriette had rejected her.

And apparently, Harriette had manifested some form of being next to her. “Being” seemed the best word, because it was humanoid, but absolutely not at all human. Not to mention Harriette’s sudden change of wardrobe...

‘I guess if we get attacked again, you can help us.’

That was pathetic. The first sign of somebody having the ability to do something in this place, and she was hiding behind them. Useless.

But, they had a chance. And a way out of here, too. Limping after Jin, she followed them into the gap in the wall. It’d probably be better to slow down for a bit, anyway. Once the two of them had squeezed into the passage, Harriette followed after. She had nodded immediately after Alina’s statement. Of course she would help if she could. Now she brought up the rear as the three traversed, steadily going upward.

After a while she wasn't sure how far they'd gotten. It was dark and cramped, she was almost completely winded and her mind was buzzing making focus difficult. Behind the three of them there came an ear-splitting sound of ice shattering apart, and an angry voice echoing through the stone corridor.

"Harriette!!"

The scrabbling of claws against the rock followed it shortly. The monsters were following them now that they'd broken the wall.

"H-hurry!" Harriette said, breathless. She turned to see if she could spot their pursuers, but they hadn't caught up just yet. But injured and out of breath, they were surely gaining.

“That is one persistent bitch.” Jin felt their stomach churn at the idea of more attacks, more pain. They weren’t sure if they could handle it a second time.

Oh no. Not again. She didn’t want to fight more of them. She didn’t want to. Shit, shit shit shit. Alina moved as fast as she could through the crevice, a mix of her own limp and Jin’s injuries setting the pace. They could only move so fast, though... crap, they were in trouble if they didn’t get out of here fast.

They could only move so quickly, but the end was finally in sight. Eventually the passage, which had gradually been getting steeper, came to a sharper incline. The group came to a stop to catch their breath before they had to get climbing. There was no other way out, besides into the waiting claws of the monsters chasing them. Soil gently filtered down from above them, suggesting that they were close to the surface.

“It’s not far up,” Harriette said, her neck craned to stare at the ceiling that she hoped was loose enough to dig through. “We can make it.” She didn’t even entertain the thought that once they broke through they could just be dragged back down. She ushered Jin and Alina upwards, and with the last of their strength the three of them crawled up towards the surface. Desperately they used their hands to dig through the earth blocking their escape. Once Jin’s hand broke through and reached into the open air above, the rest of the dirt fell away easier and they all scrambled out of the hole. Dirtied, bloodied, and chests heaving they spread out and away from the opening into the cave system. The sounds of the Imps had died away once they broke through to the surface, and there was no sign of ugly little claws or wings coming after them. Maybe they weren’t as confident outside of their own domain, or maybe there was something else stopping them, but whatever it was Harriette thanked their lucky stars for it. She was collapsed on her hands and knees, breathing in hard. Hester peered into the dark where they’d come from just to be sure they’d escaped their pursuers, and once satisfied it began to slowly fade out from sight.

Once they got their bearings, the group could see that they were still in the prison complex. Their scramble underground had taken them away from the cells and close to a canyon that served as the prison's entrance. There was the sound of water rushing, wind blowing through the gaps in the stone walls, and hushed conversation not far off.

The sound petrified Harriette. Initially she thought they must have been found by those guards, but when none came to apprehend them she forced her brain to stop panicking and start thinking. The voices were vaguely familiar. Could it be the rest of the people they'd fallen into this place with?

Harriette looked to Jin and Alina, nodding her head in the direction the voices were coming from. Cautiously and optimistically they could make their way forward, and with luck reunite with the others.

The young men and their mysterious guide huddled in what little shelter the parked trucks provided them for what felt like an eternity, trying to rebuild their collective stamina as best they could. Now more than ever Barney counted his blessings that these pit-faced prison guards seemed pretty lacking in the perception department. Maybe it was the lack of eyes? Whenever one walked by the spot where he, Dakota, Nick, Caelum, Vincent, and Spindle were hiding he held his breath, but not once did a sentry turn its yawning cavity his way. If they were real people the would-be escapees would have been caught long ago, no doubt about it. Still, he couldn’t count himself too fortunate until he and the others were finally out of this despicable place. If only, he thought, there was a clear way forward.

After a few minutes, a hushed whisper from Spindle broke the tense silence that had settled over the group like a weighted blanket. “Odradek’s tellin’ me we got non-Shadows nearby!” she told them, trying not to sound too excited. Despite her efforts to keep her cool, however, her hope shone bright on her features. “Comin’ up from underground, right over there!”

She directed her new acquaintances’ attention across the dirt road to the south, which looped in a parabolic arc to the southeast to serve as the dividing line between the jailhouses and the Proving Grounds on the prison’s right side. Her extended finger pointed out a cleared section of land that appeared to be in the preliminary stages of construction, so early in the process that little was done beyond some digging and laying of foundations. Those who could get a line of sight watched until a set of hands broke through the loose soil, then a second, until enough ground had been shifted to allow a familiar trio to pry themselves free from the clutches of the earth. Barney’s eyes went wide as a big smile sprang to his bearded face unbidden. “It’s them!” he whispered, for though they were bruised and bloody, scoured by claw marks and scraped by stone, dirtied and disquieted, he recognized Alina, Jin, and Harriette–the people that he feared had been lost, found. Even better, he realized from the military-style clothes that Harriette now wore that she must have undergone an awakening of her own.

Filled with elation, he turned to the others. “They made it, God bless! We’re all gonna make it!” When he glanced at Spindle he found her smiling despite herself, but the police girl put a finger to her lips. “Shush, shush! Hold yer horses, don’t give us away! Lemme I’ll handle this.” Moving with deliberate slowness, she held her hand out beneath the truck. A flicker of blue flame brought forth her persona Odradek on the ground, and after a moment it sent one of its threads out like a snake. It slithered across the open ground to where the underground trio kept a low profile among construction materials and waved to get their attention. From there, the simple act of following it with their gaze would be enough to bring their eyes to where the others hid.

Spindle’s voice reached Harriete, Jin, and Alina through the thread. “Howdy, folks!” she whispered. “My name’s Spindle, and I’ve come to help get y’all outta this here prison. Now listen up, ‘cause I jus’ had a finger-lickin’ good idea. There ain’t a fart’s chance in the wind we get out either by force or by runnin’, but I reckon we can make the river do the work for us.” The police girl glanced between her compatriots to make sure they were listening, too. “It flows from the waterfall, right? Gotta lead somewhere, an’ anywhere’s better’n here. Fallin’ don’t hurt none in the Metaverse, so if we jump in before any o’ them guards grab us we’ll be sittin’ pretty. Whaddya say?”

The two groups did not, unfortunately, get long to mull the idea over. A sudden rumbling from underground cut the conversation short, and just a moment later the earth itself erupted a few hundred feet away from the construction site. A cloud of dust flew into the air alongside chunks of dirt and stone, all thrown up by a massive geyser pitch-black curse energy wreathed in red. Then a woman’s resounding voice, amplified and slightly warped, echoed throughout the prison from the rupture. ”HARRIEEEEEEEEEEEETTE!” Like clockwork, Pondwater's splendorous golden beacon locked on to the disturbance from the courthouse, its gaze more baleful than ever. ”Where are you, sweet-thing?” the woman’s voice continued without pause. As the rubble and darkness cleared away, they revealed a beautiful horned woman in glamorous decoration and attire, dreadfully familiar to the few who only just escaped her. Around her gathered a number of vicious-looking imps, as well as a handful of bizarre starfish whose sea-blue peepers swept the premises. ”I just want to talk~”

”Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, your Deploriousness!” The voice of Pondwater boomed, thick with distortion. As his eyelight narrowed, guards from all around dropped whatever they were doing and began to converge on the unwelcome guests. ”Crawl back into your hole. The inmates are aaaall MINE!”

Fighting broke out instantly, and with it came a wave of chaos, sweeping over the entire Prison of Indictment. A sudden burst of white light drew Barney’s attention back in the direction he came, and he looked in time to see a handful of guards thrown like ragdolls away from the door to the nearest jailhouse. Now that he got a good look at the building’s front it struck him as rather odd, sporting a whole lot of sandstone and oddly archaic decor, from beast-headed statues to carved glyphs. From its door stalked a young woman in black and gold, strutting beneath a halo of radiant light. Unlike before, however, he knew this girl, though act of recognition led straight to bewilderment. ”Kirsty!?” he exclaimed, taken aback.

Spindle whistled, her brows raised over eyes wide with fear. “Whoo-wee! All the Warlords’re comin’ out to play!” She stood up, prompting the others to do the same. “Bout time we made a run for it. C’mon!”

She set off at a sprint for the canyon as fast as her build allowed, leaving it up for Barney, Vincent, Caelum, Jin, Harrietee, Dakota, Alina, Nick, and Lorenzo to follow. Without even a hint of stopping she ran straight off the cliff’s edge, summoning Odradek like a glider over her to slow her fall. Barney shot past her, yelling and flailing the whole way down, until he hit the rapids with a mighty splash. A moment later he bobbed to the surface, holding onto his hat, and when the current picked him up he practically flew downstream.

@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN @Lugubrious

Lorenzo Pavorotti

Lorenzo was not sure how to go about the situation at hand; there were a lot more guards than their group. They could try to sneak past them however if they were caught then they are screwed. “We might have to fight our way through them; I just hope we’ll be able to brute force our way.” Of course, his train of thought was interrupted by the ground shaking; causing him to fall flat on his ass. His eyes stared up at a demonic woman surrounded by an army of little imps. “You gotta be fuckin kidding me.” Not only did he fight a huge beast a moment ago; now he had to fight this woman and her horde of little fuckers. Tightening his grip on the iron pipe in his hand; If he was going to fight then he was going to beat them to a pulp. Although seeing the woman knocking the guards around made their job a lot easier; “Good thing that bitch is knocking those guards around; let’s just book it to the canyon.” Running with the others towards the canyon; knocking the guards that were blocking his way; “Get out of my way.” Knocking one of the guards down onto the ground; One of the guards holding onto his arm holding him back from joining the others. Swiftly turning around to kick the guard in the crouch. Causing the guard to keel over giving Lorenzo enough time to continue running.

Part of him was not concerned about the symbolism of the fish, the bridge and the prison. He was more concerned about not being stomped on by an eldritch beast or being turned into a pinata by the guards. The incoming imps were not helping with keeping up with the others. Ran past them and towards the canyon; jumping into the canyon. Felt like his life was flashing before his eyes, but he didn't see a white light at the end of a tunnel. His body submerged in the heavy water; Lorenzo looking around for the others.

^{∎̵͍̅͜∎̵̰̽̏͝∎̷̢̻̞̂∎̸̨̻̹̈∎̵̰͚̝͆∎̷̮̋̄̚ ̵͆ : ̷?̷ ̶?̷ ̷h̸o̴u̴r̸s̶}
Though initially wary of the serpent-like thread, Harriette did spot the other humans they'd been separated from at the other end of it. Relief rushed in, quelling most other emotions in her body. She sighed, feeling all the energy slowly start to drain out of her now that her brain was no longer running on pure adrenaline after seeing something she deemed "safe." A couple of the others were wearing different clothes than they were before, so she guessed the same thing that had happened to her had happened to them as well.

Harriette's attention was drawn back to the thread itself, when the whispered voice of one "Spindle" starting coming out of it. She listened attentively to Spindle's plan. Jump... into the river...? Harriette glanced toward where she could hear the sound of water. She wasn't afraid of heights or anything, but the thought of leaping from a waterfall, who knew how high up, and trusting a river in this cursed place to lead them to safety was... frightening. Even though Spindle promised it wouldn't hurt, Harriette couldn't help but feel nervous. However, ultimately Spindle was right. Anywhere would be better than here.

Besides, there were much more frightening things in the world than high diving.

Harriette pushed herself to stand on shaky legs, wobbling at the explosion that came shortly after. And then, that horrible voice. Once more fear starting climbing it's way into her throat, but this time she wasn't paralyzed from it. Her hands curled into fists. Though invisible she could still feel Hester's presence, so... so shouldn't she face down that monster?

She wouldn't get the chance even if she'd finished gathering her courage, because all of a sudden shadows flooded the area and chaos boomed around them, as the "Warlords" as Spindle had called them began to fight each other. The warzone was dangerous, but it gave them cover too. Harriette looked over to the other group and spotted that police woman, Spindle, making a break for it. They had to follow, it was their best chance to get out alive.

Harriette turned to Jin and Alina, the two of them were in worse shape than she was. The red head forced her next words out quickly. "Can you two run? Or even walk? We have to get away, now!"

Harriette was exhausted from her awakening, but if either of them needed help she would try and drag them to safety if she had to. With some difficulty they could follow after Spindle and get to anywhere safer than here.

As Spindle alerted the group of young men to the presence of others, Nick furrowed his brow for a moment before realizing who that likely meant, and watched the area she'd pointed to with interest. After a moment, the dirt was breached, and the other girls they'd separated from appeared. "Well that's good." Nick let out, before frowning. Doesn't really help much right now, though... He didn't say that out loud, though, not wanting to kill the mood.

He blinked a few times when Spindle mentioned her plan, then thought about it and shrugged. She knew more about this place than they did, so if she said falling didn't hurt, then they'd have to trust her. Either they died to the guards or they maybe survived the fall. The choice seemed pretty obvious to him, at least.

Before the groups managed to even re-group into one big group, they were interrupted by somebody else, another 'Warlord' apparently, bursting from the ground and chasing after Harriette, complete with a dramatic cry to the heavens. This place was definitely some sort of weird mental world, because that was cliché as all hell. That being said, the sudden attention drawn to them, as well as the influx of guards and monsters descending upon each other in some kind of horrific civil war sort of pressed the issue of 'Getting the hell out of here', so Nick followed after Barney, Spindle, and Lorenzo.

As he leapt off of the edge of the cliff, his gut dropped into his feet as he started falling. "OHHHH FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKK!!!!!" He yelled, cut off abruptly by the landing into the river itself, only resurfacing after a few seconds of trying to get his bearings. "NEVER AGAIN!!!" He yelled, looking up at Spindle. He would get her back for that! Crazy mirror dimension lady!

It seemed luck was on their side. No sooner did they break through the wall than they ran into the rest of the group they’d been separated from. It looked like a few others had been upgraded just like Harriette had. Jin did not know what the hell was up with that, but really wanted to know.

Before Jin even had time to open their exhausted mouth and ask, that woman from earlier was speaking somewhere near them all. She quickly explained a plan to jump into the river, and it seemed like an absolutely insane idea. For one, they’d fall what, a hundred feet to the drop? For two, Jin had not swam in years. They knew how, but was likely well out of practice.

However, chaos burst out quickly after. Queen Fairy Bitch and then Pondwater were both on the scene at the same time! “Fuck… no more.” Jin murmured, very wearily. They hadn’t even stopped bleeding yet. Truth be told, their head was getting a little fuzzy. There had been no time to mention it as the three of them were trying to escape.

“Don’t have a choice, do I?” Wheezing faintly, they hauled ass toward the river with their remaining strength. It was a hard bit of running, but Jin knew that if they stopped, they would not be getting up again for a long while.

“Fuckfuckfuck-” They geared themselves up midway and leapt off the cliff with both feet, the fuzz in their head increasing rapidly. A startled scream escaped Jin as they fell and fell.

Then there was nothing, as the blood loss caught up to them. They passed out cold in midair, hitting the water with a graceless splash. The current carried them off as they began to sink.

They'd done it. They'd met back up with the others. But no sooner had they succeeded there, than the worst came to pass: not one, not two, but three of those "Warlord" people had come out. And one was new, even... great.

She was tired. Tired of all of this. Which was why she didn't even question this new Spindle person's idea, or the idea that maybe jumping off a cliff was a bad idea, or that it'd probably aggravate her ankle even further. She simply followed after her as fast as she could, a modest hobble rather than a sprint by now, and when she came to the cliff's edge... hesitated.

She'd die. She'd die if she fell down there.

But everyone else was doing it. God, that brought back that old idiom about everyone's friends jumping off a bridge, didn't it?

Fuck it. She closed her eyes, screwed up her face, and tossed herself off the edge as best she could, folding her body together. She didn't want to tense up for the impact...

All around, the Prison of Indictment surged with the chaos of a sudden war. Beams of light, plumes of shadow, weapons and spells of every kind filled the air as the thralls of the Warlords fought to the death. Whatever this symbolized could be pondered later; for now, the young adults pushed themselves into action. Despite enervation and injury, the ragged band of escapees clung to the one ray of hope that shone upon them, and one after another put their bet their lives on Spindle’s promise by hurling themselves from the top of the cliff toward the water that churned below. As they fell, their hair and clothes whipping in the wind, their screams of fear, desperation, and uncertainty joined the cacophonic chorus above them. Adrenaline made the moment seem like an age, but in reality only a few seconds passed before all ten splashed down and sped away, borne by the current.

The water was cold, not frigid, but bracing enough to shock the sense of all who immersed themselves within. To most it provided an extra jolt of energy, temporarily washing over the fatigue that clung to their limbs like so much dried mud. Not everyone who bobbed to the surface, however, did so with wide eyes and a loud gasp. It was Dakota who first caught a glimpse of Jin as their senseless body floundered in the water, and he didn’t think twice before putting his weary bones to work. Luckily for him, and indeed the whole group, the current that swept them downstream was mercifully gentle, more like a large-scale lazy river than the raging rapids one might see a daredevil hero contend with in an action flick. Dakota paddled his way over and grabbed hold, helping to buoy Jin above the surface so that no water would enter their lungs. An executive decision was made, and with the last of his spirit energy Dakota called upon Thamyris to save new acquaintance with Dia. As the healing magic flowed through Jin, pulling them back from the brink, Dakota breathed a sigh of relief. Then his body went limp, and he began to sink himself.

A spool of silvery thread looped around his arm, tightening harmlessly against the jacket, and kept him from going under. Spindle, having alighted upon the back of Odradek rather than plunge into the drink with the others, wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead with the back of her gloved hand. “Whoo-wie! Talk about a close shave!” Drifting above the water, she extended lifelines to each of the others in turn. With the extra help keeping them afloat, Barney and the others could afford to relax for perhaps the first time since their arrival in this absurd netherworld, watching the high walls of Pondwater’s dreadful jail recede into the distance as they floated on their backs. As he got used to the water’s temperature, Barney let his eyes slide shut, and as the echoes of battle gave way to silence he could let go of the stress that knotted his sore muscles, bit by bit. Despite the danger and the unknown, he could do little more than continue to trust in the little group’s guardian angel, who’d brought them this far and surely wouldn’t lead them astray.

From her position atop her kitelike Persona, Spindle directed the group through the waterways. No pursuers appeared to give chase, and no dangers arose from the depths, so the escapees could enjoy a peaceful ride down the river’s twists and turns. All too soon, however, the moment of tranquility came to an end. After rounding a bend Barney found himself confronted by a view of the open ocean, where the river ended in a small waterfall that emptied into the kaleidoscopic, gelatinous expanse of tar that was the Sea of Souls. Walls of buildings ringed the bay, and in the middle stood a lonesome, towering island, upon which he could see an imposing citadel. The flashing red and blue lights atop the marble of classical architecture made him almost as uneasy as the prospect of being dumped into the illimitable tar pit that gleaming and bubbled only a few hundred feet away, but Spindle took a right turn down an alternate path toward a megalithic hotel, and pulled all her charges along after her. The channel led into the building, where the water grew shallower until Barney’s feet touched the bottom. After releasing the police girl’s thread he stood to find himself in a circular fountain pool, the fancy central water feature of the hotel lobby. More of a ring than a solid structure, the hotel featured a central atrium that extended from the bottom floor all the way to the glass roof of its twentieth story, with rings and rings of rooms in between. Through it Barney could see the turmoil of the smoke-gray sky, alight with the hellish light of eternal war. He shivered and climbed out of the fountain.

“Everyone alright?” Spindle’s Persona vanished as she hopped off, leaving the ten alone. “I reckon this place is safe, safe as it gets here anyhow, so we got a few if y’all wanna catch your breath.” She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder at the couches and coffee machines that littered the lobby. “All y’all oughta grab somethin’, ‘specially whoever’s got a Persona.”

Barney, massaging his wound, shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m not really hungry.”

The police girl grinned. “Lucky you, food ain’t just for fillin’ yer belly if yer in the Metaverse. It’ll patch ya right up, and drinks like coffee will give yer Persona more juice, too!” Her face turned serious once more as she crossed her arms, staring at the door that led back out to the city. “There’s a place nearby we can use to getcha home. But it ain’t gonna be easy–not with other Warlords sniffin around. You can bet yer behinds we’re gonna run into more trouble, so fill up while ya can.”

@Lugubrious

Lorenzo Pavorotti

Lorenzo turned his head quickly, trying to search for the others that landed in the water with him. “Well, at least this day couldn’t get any worse.” He thought to himself while floating down the river. He felt relatively safe from the eldritch beasts and the jail guards that wanted to kick the shit out of the punk. A large part of him wanted to go home, hang out with his brother. But first, he would have to soldier through this hellish world first. And Lorenzo was not going to give up already, he was not what his brother would call an “Il ragazzo di mamma.” Thinking back for a moment of if he would even be able to see his brother, or if he would join his parents in the afterlife. “I ain’t gonna be a sister and give up because I get beaten around, I gotta get up on my feet and fight back.” Shaking his head while floating down the river with the group. Closing his eyes and thinking of how he could escape this place. Following the others on the divide in the river towards a hotel, Trying to dry himself and wipe the dust off of his clothing. Looking up at the sky, having a bad feeling about going inside of the hotel. “Well no point in messing around folks, hopefully, there are no baddies in here. Right?” He turned towards Barney, raising an eyebrow.

“So guys, what do we do now? How the hell do we get out of here? And does anyone wanna explain to me what a Persona and Warlords are?” Lorenzo was still confused about what was going on, and thought that one of them would be able to help him put the pieces together. While waiting for his questions to be answered, he went over towards the coffee machine. Grabbing himself a cup of black coffee. Finding the bitter taste to be preferable to milk and sugar. “Oh my name is Lorenzo by the way, nice to meet ya guys.” Smiling, finding that introducing himself in this situation was not the best idea. But having the group introduce each other, could bring them closer together.

^{∎̵͍̅͜∎̵̰̽̏͝∎̷̢̻̞̂∎̸̨̻̹̈∎̵̰͚̝͆∎̷̮̋̄̚ ̵͆ : ̷?̷ ̶?̷ ̷h̸o̴u̴r̸s̶}
After breaking the surface of the water, Harriette gasped and took in as much air as possible to calm her pounding heart. The initial panic drained away once it was clear that there were no pursuers, and she let her eyes drift closed. She quietly listened to the others speaking, sputtering, or just breathing. She was tired. So very tired. Only when she felt the light touch of Spindle's thread did she open her eyes again, taking the line in her hand and holding on. She couldn't quite relax, but she tried her best to anyway and let the river do all of the work.

The group left the prison behind them, and just when it seemed like they would float out into a hostile sea the policewoman pulled them down a bend in the river. They were being pulled into what seemed to a large hotel of some sort. To Harriette it looked just as menacing as anything else they'd seen so far, and the only reason she didn't think they were being lured into some trap was because Spindle could have just left them all to die in the prison a long time ago if that's what she wanted.

Once inside, Harriette laid in the pool for a little while longer until she couldn't justify it any longer. With a shallow puff of breath she lifted herself out of the water and made a beeline for the coffee. She listened to their savior speak while fixing herself a cup. When one of the people came over to the coffee maker she traded places with him, getting a little closer to Spindle.

"I was wondering that too. When you said Persona, and Warlords, what exactly do you mean?" Harriette had been missing from the crash course Spindle had given the boys, but it's something that must apply to her given her outfit change. It was easy enough to connect the wardrobe swap to whatever was going on, and only a few in their group had it. "Is it... that figure that spoke to me? It ended up saving us underground."

The young man that had gone for the coffee introduced himself then, and Harriette looked over her shoulder at him with surprise on her face. That was right, so many names she didn't know. Now was as good a time as ever for introductions. "Oh. My name is Harriette. Although I wish we all could have met under different circumstances..."

The cold of the water wasn't all that bad, once Nick managed to get used to it. He wouldn't go so far as to call it refreshing or anything like that, but it had shocked some of the exhaustion out of him. Spindle had already gone and sent out safety lines for the group to hang onto, after saving their unfortunately unconscious allies, and Nick took full advantage of it to rest his weary bones as best he could.

Which wasn't all that much, to his chagrin. Looking upon the Sea of Souls (not that he knew what it actually was) unnerved him, and not only for the creepy castle sitting on the island in front of them. It felt wrong. The psychedelic ocean of tar freaked him out a bit. He wasn't sure what it was, if it was just an extension of his uneasiness with the ocean (Damn you, Subnautica!) or something deeper than that. Thankfully, he wasn't forced to contemplate it much longer, as Spindle pulled them along to what looked like a hotel with an extremely bougie water fountain in the lobby.

"Oh no, capitalists." He breathed out, finally comfortable enough to joke. "Alright, now that we're not about to die, holy shit we almost died." Now safe, Nick's mind immediately returned to its natural state: Anxious panic hidden by a thin veneer of snark. Hooray.

Taking a deep breath, he looked around the place to get a better look. Yeah. Definitely bougie. Getting up and climbing out of the fountain, Nick shook some of the water off of him like a dog before having the decency to look a little sheepish about it.

Still dripping wet, Nick took Spindle's advice about getting something from the vending machine. The adrenaline had hidden it pretty well, but he was exhausted and aching from when his Shadow had tried to squeeze the life out of him. That thing was strong. Which probably had some deep subconscious meaning about the stranglehold his past had on his life, but that was a matter for another time. Getting the hell out of the freaky mirror world was more important right now.

Finishing his snack and soda, Nick tossed the trash before turning to Lorenzo and Harriette. "I'd try to explain but honestly I'm still processing the whole mirror dimension thing so I'd probably just fuck it up. Spindle knows more about this stuff. Uh, I'm Nick. Glad we're not dead yet." He awkwardly added, shrugging.

He was really good at this whole "Meeting new people" thing. Yeah. So good.

At this point, hearing that food and drink could patch up injuries and restore energy in this Metaverse place might have come as a surprise if not for the seemingly infinite conga line of bizarre and supernatural occurrences that had befallen him in the past…God, had it even been an hour? For the life of him Barney couldn’t get an idea of how much time had passed since he first fell flat on that pier over an infinite quagmire of dreams, but that was par for the course by now. Whether the police girl spoke the truth or not, Barney didn’t really have the luxury of choice. He’d hoped to find Spindle’s exit here, but it sounded like the bedraggled team had a ways yet to go, and if that was the case Barney would be pretty much useless in this condition. It was funny that just that morning he’d thought of himself as a living corpse, sitting on a couch after a night’s rest and a passable breakfast, never imagining what real exhaustion and agony felt like. Next time, I’ll count my blessings, he thought.

So, with no other options, he had to take Spindle’s word for it. It wasn’t as if he doubted her, since she could have at any time done them harm -or just left them to get themselves killed- if she felt like it. Rather, he felt the all-too-familiar sensation of debts piling up. As he followed Lorenzo to the coffee machine, then took a muffin from the breakfast line, he couldn’t help but ponder just how much he and the other jailbirds owed their mysterious benefactor. No doubt everyone else wondered why she, a self-admitted resident of this twisted dreamland, would go to such lengths for complete strangers. Barney hoped that it was just a duty thing, since if debts came due, he would have a lot to answer for.

For now at least, however, the general opinion seemed to be more concerned with the what than the why. Of course, the nature of the Metaverse itself demanded the most attention, and with all of the unknown terminology that Spindle generously slung around, there was a chance to grasp some semblance of understanding. Plus, in all the chaos, introductions had naturally slipped away. Now that everyone had a chance to get themselves together they could afford to share their names, and the bearded student certainly did. “I’m Barney Rynsburger,” he told the rest. Lorenzo, Harriette, and Nick, he repeated in his mind. “And likewise,” he added, following up on the latter’s statement. “As much as I’d like to say I have an idea what’s going on, I’m pretty darn lost.”

“Well, that goes for pretty much everyone, I feel like. Name’s Dakota, by the way,” the former singer added. Though he looked between the others for introductions, neither Vincent, nor Jin, nor Caelum, nor Alina accepted his baton. They kept their silence, not even going to grab a bite to eat to replenish themselves.

“If you’re feelin’ down I can’t say I blame ya,” Spindle offered. “It won’t be long before y’all get yer Personas too, I know it. Jus’ hang in there a li’l while longer. Speakin’ of, I guess it’s past time I explained this crap, yeah.”

After seating herself on a couch in the hotel lobby and waiting for the others to join her with their drinks and snacks, Spindle began. “I dropped a couple lines already, but for now I’ll jus’ start over. To begin with, this place is called the Metaverse. It’s a kinda psycho-cognitive world dealie, formed from the collective unconscious of everyone on the whole doggone planet.” She moved her hands a lot as she spoke, as if her enthusiastic gestures helped get her points across. “Uhh…well, try’n picture this. If reality -that’s the world you know’ is the real thing, then this place is the shadow. And y’all are the light castin’ it! If…that makes any kinda sense.” Clearing her throat, she continued. “Everyone sees the world a li’l differently, mind. Like lookin’ through different glasses.” She tapped her own for emphasis. “This place is a mishmash of all them different perspectives. Everyone’s feelin’s, their hopes and fears, all their wants and woes, all come together to make this, with its own rules and laws. And certain people have a real distorted perspective.”

“The Warlords?” Dakota supplied.

Spindle nodded. “Sort of. But they ain’t just yer Saturday mornin’ cartoon monsters. See, normally the Metaverse and the real world exist side by side, but never touch, ‘cept in dreams maybe. Like train tracks. But sometimes the tracks get bent outta shape. Stress and sufferin’ wear ‘em down ‘til cracks start formin’ in the space between, gettin’ worse and worse until they finally…well, snap.”

Barney gulped. “Is that…what happened to us?”

“Mhm.” The police girl looked grave. “I mean, I don’t wanna pry or nothin’, but that’s the only way ya end up here. And once you’re here, the timer starts tickin’. Sooner or later, every poor sap who falls through the cracks comes face to face with their demons, no matter if they’re in or out. And then ya got only two choices: win or lose.” Spindle took a quick but deep breath. “Everyone’s got an ugly part of themselves they bury down deep. The dark side, hidden from yerself as much as everyone else. If ya lose, that side takes over. Becomes who y’are in the real world. Those people in turn become sources of sufferin’ fer others. It’s a vicious cycle, and the worse stuff ya do out there, ruinin’ folks’ lives and changin’ their cognition, the more powerful ya get in here. Those are Warlords. And that’s why I’m here.”

Spindle put her hand over her heart, a determined expression on her face. “I’m here to help y’all out. Heck, to help out all of humankind, if I can. To stop ‘em sufferin’, an’ to do that I gotta take it to the Warlords. ‘Course, I’m just one gal, an’ I can’t hardly fight, neither. So it’s my job to find folks who fall in here, chase ‘em down before their demons get ‘em, and make sure they win. ‘Cause when you’re able to face yer demons and come out on top, ready an’ willin’ to fight for yer own little world? That’s when ya awaken a Persona.”

At that, Spindle stood. “Odradek!”

In a flare of azure flame, her Persona appeared. Stretched out like a kite of silken thread between two silvery crossbars, and bearing a watchful eye at the center, it hovered behind her without a sound. “Personas are yer true selves. Those deep, inner thoughts, confronted, accepted, and turned from yer demons into yer strength, takin’ form from the stories of yer civilization. They’re the masks ya wear to overcome hardship. In other words, they’re yer best friends, and if ya do right by ‘em they’ll sure as hell do right by you.”

With a wave of her hand, Odradek disappeared. Spindle gazed around at everyone present. “And ya better, ‘cause the Metaverse sure ain’t in a good state these days. In fact, it’s a doggone warzone. If you’re gonna slog through the trenches of the collective unconscious, ya gotta be a soldier against corruption, and yer Persona is yer sword an’ shield.”

Although happy to find out that Spindle had been telling the truth about the food, and that the muffin and coffee legitimately made him feel much better, Barney had been frowning for a while now. “You make it sound like…well, a military campaign. Or some grand quest to save the world. And I’m sure we wish you luck and everything, but all we want is to get the hell outta here and back to the real world. That’s what this is all about, right?”

“Oh, uh, right, right!” Spindle assured the group. “The exit ain’t that far, even. I was just, uh, talkin’ in general. Once everyone’s set we’ll head off. I’m just sayin’ to expect some trouble on the way.”

“Right,” Barney sighed. “Great.”

@Lugubrious @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN @Yankee

Lorenzo Pavorotti

Lorenzo took a sip of his coffee, he was glad to be introduced to be finally learning the names of the people in the group. “It’s nice to meet you guys.” He smiled while taking another small sip of the coffee cup. Turning his attention towards Spindle as she was answering his question, he was still a little confused about what was going on. “So is there a way to get out of the Metaverse? Is there some kinda exit we gotta find or something?” Lorenzo assumed that since they stumbled into the entrance of this place, there would be an exit to leave the Metaverse. He sure as hell was not going to be stuck here for the rest of his life, “Unless we gotta kill those Warlord dudes to get out of here, then in that case how do we kill them? Can we even kill those things with conventional weapons?” A small part of him was starting to freak out, he was not planning on staying here forever. He could not have his brother lose his only family member, and Lorenzo did not want to never see his older brother ever again.

Looking over at the figure behind Spindle, he was reminded of a manga where people could summon spirits that have different abilities. He wondered if they could gain this persona, from killing a Warlord. Assuming this was true from what had happened to Nick. “So how do we get a Persona? By killing a Warlord? Do we get to choose our Persona, or is it something random?” Raising an eyebrow from her explanation, feeling that all of this seemed to only make their lives even worst. “So if we did get our Personas, who would we be fighting with our new fancy powers?” All of this sounded like baloney to him, he assumed he was still dreaming and they were figments of his imagination. And he really didn’t want to face his Warlord, if they are the darkest part of our psyche. He was sure that his Warlord was one bad mother.

Jin woke up with a sudden gasp, in ice cold water that soaked them through to the bone. It hurt like hell and they’d probably pay for it later. But aside from that, the rest of their pain was gone. Weird. They wondered what happened as they went down the river with Spindle and all of the others.

Soon they came up to a very fancy looking hotel building, the kind that didn’t allow people like them anywhere near. “Well, that was a long and strange journey.” Sneezing once, they climbed out and stayed quiet, looking around for more enemies. Already they were paranoid. They padded toward the snack bar, and quickly picked out several muffins. Coffee always made them jittery, so they managed to find a half-chilled bottle of water. Then they devoured it all, barely stopping to breathe. Who knew mortal danger could make one so hungry?

As soon as there was a break in Spinde’s lengthy and strange explanation, they raised their hand. “I- I don’t think I’m the type of person who saves the world, y’know? If I want out – for real – is there a way out, or will I have to fight my way with the rest of you all?” They looked weighted down and depressed. That thing, in the jail from before. It had their eyes, their bearing. But a hatred that bore down bone deep in a way Jin was deeply uncomfortable with.

“Um. I’m Jin, by the way.”

Finally, a reprieve. With all the running around, monster semi-fighting, and dealing with those insane "Shadows", Vincent was running almost entirely on autopilot. It almost felt as if he'd been out of it for entire months, and that was certainly weird to get a handle on.

Staggering over to the hotel's breakfast bar, Vincent unceremoniously grabbed a handful of various meatstuffs and slapped them on a plate. He picked at the pile of sausage, ham, and bacon with a little plastic fork as he took one of the fancy cushioned seats for himself. This would be the only real food he's had today, so he was going to savor it. If 'savor' meant 'shovel more than you can chew into your mouth', that is.

Vincent didn't idly scarf, no no. He was paying close attention to the conversation everyone else had. Personas, Warlords, introductions... Vincent scoffed, though it came out more like a muffled cough through his mouthful of food. He could certainly think of one person who'd make a hell of a Warlord, and he wasn't planning to stick around this "Metaverse" to see him.

The baton pass of greetings eventually landed on him. Swallowing, he'd say, "Look, I'm not going to get buddy-buddy here. All of your weird stress crack stuff caught me by chance, I ain't involved in this 'save the world' business. Soon as I'm out of here you won't be seein' my again." He punctuated his point with a chomp of sausage.

Okay, so mirror dimension wasn't entirely correct, but he was close enough with the basic premise. This world was a reflection of the collective unconscious of humanity. "That explains why this place is a prison..." Nick mumbled. You came here, did your time, changed and grew, and were sent out into the world.

Saddled with debt, trauma, hopefully powerful or lucrative connections, and a better understanding of what people were really like when they weren't held back by parents or the shackles of youth. Not a one-to-one analogy, of course, but enough that it was a fair enough fit.

And the only reason they were here was because they snapped. Nick almost barked out a laugh at that. The straw that had broken the camel's back was tripping, getting some crap on one of his jackets, an argument with some guy he barely knew, and thinking about his ex.

That was it. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Hell, he hadn't even had to ignore a call from his dad this entire week, let alone today, and that was usually more stressful than half this day had been. Pathetic, the treacherous part of his mind thought.

Outwardly, he tried to hide his frustrations with himself, but still let out a wince at the knowledge that coming here had, in fact, been because they'd finally snapped.

At least he didn't get brutally murdered by his own demons and replaced, becoming nothing more than a flesh sack for the ugliest parts of himself that he hated. He'd need to find a way to more constructively channel his anger than snide comebacks and punching walls.

Spindle's comments about a war, though, made Nick bristle a little. It had felt good to finally fight back, to do something besides bitch and moan and talk to a therapist for an hour every few days, but could he really dedicate his time to this? He still had to prepare for his gap year and his LSATs in June. This was already an extremely busy and important time in his life, and if he wanted to follow his dreams, he couldn't waste time gallivanting around and fighting flesh-wearing soul demons...could he?

No. No, he couldn't. He had to prioritize, and his career had to take priority. He needed to prove to himself (and to his parents, his thoughts interrupted) that he could do this. That he wasn't a waste of time and space. He could do good, make something of himself, the runt of the litter. He could be better than a debt-ridden, washed-up financier and a failed trophy wife.

Nick nodded along with the others in expressing his interest in getting out of here.

He didn't say anything, though. He couldn't bring himself to admit, with words, that he couldn't-that he wouldn't-help.

As the others continued to regain their strength, Spindle sought to answer their follow-up questions as best she could. “Yeah, course there’s a way out,” she told Lorenzo as she crossed her arms, a hint of wryness visible in her encouraging smile. “Otherwise, tryin’ ta help folks would be a gosh-darn waste o’ time, ‘cause nobody can keep runnin’ and fightin’ forever. Lose yerself in here, and ya won’t be yerself for long. The Metaverse just ain’t where humans oughta be.” She cleared her throat, then looked between both Lorenzo and Jin and she hurriedly nodded. “But yeah, uh, focusin’ on the bright side, there’s a buncha ways out, in fact. Just gotta find ‘em, and get around anythin’ in the way. That’s my only mission right now.”

Lorenzo, understandably, seemed interested in Personas, although he had the wrong idea about how to obtain one. “Heavens, no, ya can’t even fight a Warlord if ya don’t got one, really.” She ran her fingers through her hair, scratching a nagging itch. “More like…stand up for yourself, I guess? It’s a li’l different for everyone, but when yer nemesis pushes ya to the breakin’ point, ya just gotta keep it together, and you’ll come out stronger.” Unsatisfied, however, Lorenzo kept on asking questions, and the police girl didn’t have answers for all of them. Who would they be fighting? “How the heck should I know? Nobody knows what you’re goin’ through better than you.”

The prevailing sentiment among the group seemed to be a strong aversion to any protracted campaign in the Metaverse, which Spindle regretted, but understood. It wasn’t easy to get by in this cognitive world even for a native, and she couldn’t imagine what was going through the minds of these poor people. As she looked around the spacious hotel lobby, she was glad at least to see that the food and drink left them feeling better. With all of them probably as good as they were going to get, she decided that there was no time like the present to proceed back out into the war-torn world. “Kay folks, now that we’ve had a good break, let’s get a move on before any unsavory types close in. C’mon!”

She took off toward the hotel’s double doors, situated on the north side, and Barney followed. Though he felt alright, all things considered, it was difficult for him to hide his concern for a couple of his new acquaintances. Several group members had elected to not eat or drink anything from the hotel, maybe from a sense of distrust or unwellness, and from the way the hobbled along he feared for them should they come into contact with more monsters. Hopefully, he thought, Spindle can get us to the exit nice and quietly. Although the doors ahead were chained, the glass around them was broken, and a little careful maneuvering the escapees could get through.

On the other side, however, a dangerous landscape awaited them. Without a parking lot of any kind as a cushion between it and the rest of the city, the hotel stood directly on the edge of a sprawling avenue in a state of incredible disarray. To Barney it looked straight out of any one of the innumerable post-apocalyptic movies that portrayed the ruin of civilization, with gutted and burnt-out buildings sagging like dying plants over streets carved into ribbons by a network of large furrows. In addition to the cars and trucks one might expect of a modern metropolis, cannons, tanks and other weapons of war lay here and there, with arrows and medieval weapons sprouting up all over like rusty wildflowers. It would have been intimidating enough if abandoned, but Barney could see plenty of Shadows out and about, whether fighting, wandering, hiding, or merely languishing. The bearded man took a deep breath.

“Welcome to the trenches.” Spindle put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the warzone. “For most folks, life is a constant battle. Even if they ain’t strugglin’ to make ends meet, day by day and week by week, they’ve got other problems.”

Closer inspection only made Barney feel worse, for it revealed woeful details like the unmarked graves, the chains and barbed wire that kept certain Shadows stuck in place, and the broken locks that would have otherwise connected two or more shadows together. “I mean, that makes sense. But why a battleground? Most people’s lives aren’t violent.”

The police girl shrugged. “Maybe, but they’re still hurtin’. A whole lotta folks are so focused on their own problems that they don’t end up givin’ a hoot about anyone else’s, even if they don’t mean it. Askin’ for help can sometimes be even tougher than gettin’ it. If people don’t help each other, they’re left to fend for themselves. Everyone fightin’ their battles all on their own.”

Barney wanted to say that sounded a little pessimistic, but honestly, what did he know? Part of the whole reason why he ended up in this mess was the assumption that everyone had it worse than him–that he didn’t need to burden them with his problems, or need any help to deal with them himself. Too many thoughts swirled around in his head about mankind, leaving a dense, heavy knot deep inside him. I need to focus on getting out here, he reasoned, trying to center himself.

“We ain’t goin’ through there, at least,” Spindle was saying. “The Shadows don’t like anyone bustin’ through their territory. We could fight through for a while, but in the end we’d be stuck in the trenches just like the rest.” She pointed at the sidewalk that ran to the right of the hotel, then turned to act as a border between the trenches and the row of waterfront buildings that ran alongside the edge of the canal. “Once we get off the street, we’ll take the high road. Might seem shut-up and closed off, like ya can’t get through, but they’re all connected. If ya got the right connections, you can get anywhere. A li’l shelter and stability goes a long way, huh?”

She summoned Odradek and climbed aboard. “I’ll be yer eye in the sky. Once yer inside the buildin’s, head north along the river. We’re aimin’ for a park up a ways, right in front o’ the business sector. Now git!”

At her urging Barney began to move. He broke out of the safety of the hotel’s threshold and ran along the sidewalk, like an exposed mouse skirting the wall in search of its hole. Nearby, the shadows along the trenches began to stir, as if noticing a potential threat about to invade. Ignoring them, Barney made for the nearest apartment, summoned his wheel when he grew near, and smashed through the locked wrought-iron fence to run up the stars. The front door featured no lock of any kind, and in just another moment Barney was inside. He turned and held the door for everyone else to hurry inside.

As one might expect given everything thus far, the interior of the apartment was a little weird. It seemed to be a multi-floor labyrinth of rooms that fit together like blocks in a doll house, lacking any coherent aesthetic. No matter which doors he or the others tried, they opened without issue, giving the newcomers access to ever more living rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms, studies, laundry rooms, and so forth. Only the windows on the left that gave a view of the trenches and the windows to the right that offered glimpses at the canal (and sometimes Spindle as she flew by) gave any sense of forward progress.

There were shadows around, too. Murky and indistinct, they lounged on couches in front of TVs, lay in beds, picked away at scraps at the dinner table, or engaged in any number of other ordinary activities. A second glance revealed, however, that much of what was going on here wasn’t quite right. The shadows behaved in an disturbingly repetitive manner, doing things like opening and closing appliances, banging on surfaces, or dancing together in perfect sync. Some reacted to their unwelcome guests’ presence, but slowly, as if in a trance, and Barney deciding to leave them to their business. “This place is creepy,” he murmured, skirting around the shadows as best he could. Still, it wasn’t long before the group ran into a few shadows determined to bar their way.

A group of four child-sized shadows sat on the floor in front of a door that the team needed to get through, smashing toys into one another. When they caught sight of Barney and the others, however, each one began to throw a tantrum, and in quick succession each exploded into a demon. From two of them, lucent Skyfish burst forth, while the other two became a scrawny, kangaroo-sized devil and a beady-eyed gremlin, respectively. “Play with us, play with us!” they cried. Barney inhaled sharply and brought out his wheel, counting on those of his fellow sufferers with Personas to do the same.