[center][h3]Barney Rynsburger, Caelum Harrington[/h3][/center]

Though fear and stress hounded Barney’s every step, almost as bad as the guards scuttling around this place like insects and threatening to expose him at every turn, the would-be engineer took things one step at a time. Since it worked for him before he hid himself among prison lines whenever he could, aided in his deception thanks to an empty, discarded iron mask he found in the central ditch of his path between pens. Once disguised with the same ghastly helmet as the inmates, he was elated to find that the guards barely seemed to register him, even as his prison line walked right past them. Those pit-like faces seemed to be so fixated on searching for the frantic movement of runaway fugitives that none stopped to pick out any finer details on the people right in front of them. Maybe cartoonishly incompetent security came along with the territory of a cartoonishly evil overlord? Feeling a little braver, Barney managed to make pretty good time through the Proving Grounds, even as the blood loss from the wound on his arm began to take its toll.

By the time he finally reached his destination he’d started to feel a little dizzy. A hand clapped over his injury did not a bandage make. Maybe, Barney realized, he should have ripped up his shirt or something to stem the flow early on, but the thought hadn’t crossed his mind. As he climbed the steps to the doors there came a blaring, almost bleating noise from the courthouse behind him, and a panicked look over his shoulder confirmed that the Pondwater’s ‘Vision’ was operational once more. The radiant yellow light swept across the judge’s domain with furious speed, hastening not just Barney but also the incoming Caelum and Mila on their way. Though it looked like the redhead had taken a baton swing to the forearm at some point, she and Caelum were still very much alive, and Barney was glad to see that they made it. Still, he couldn’t relax just yet, not while that awful searchlight could rove his way any moment. With the others behind him he hastened up the last few stairs and into the cathedral doors with a thud. It was too late to worry about the abnormality of such a place sticking straight out of a jailhouse, or it being a potential trap, or even the other escapees he’d now lost sight of. He, Caelum, and Mila needed somewhere to hide.

Unfortunately for them, the door wouldn’t budge. It only rattled as Barney pushed on it, kicking back before he gained so much as an inch of progress. “W-what the!?” For a panicked moment he thought he might have gotten too weak to repeat his feat of pushing open heavy doors, but just a second’s worth of critical thinking told him that the door must be barred from the inside. When he looked again, however, he spotted a recess in the door with a small panel on the other side, right at eye height. With the searchlight getting closer, Barney threw caution to the wind and pounded on the door repeatedly, calling, “Help, open up! We need refuge! Help, please, let us in!”

He didn’t expect it to work. Just a few moments into his ruckus he heard the sound of a latch, and a second later the panel slid open. Inside Barney saw a shadowed but undeniably human face, belonging to a man pretty much the same height as him. He wore what looked like a hood at first glance, but appeared to be more of a hat with a head covering that descended behind it, plus a gleaming silver crown. A pair of yellow eyes stared back at him. “I’m here, I’m here, not so loud!” came a deep, bassy voice, shrunken to an urgent whisper. “What do you require of me?”

Relieved to have found someone who wasn’t a monster, Barney just about pushed his face into the recess. “Just let us in, please! We need a safe place to hide!”

Furtive eyes darted across him, Caelum, and Mila, then on the courthouse beacon overseeing all, before a kindly, understanding sort of expression dawned on the priest. The panel slid closed, the noise of wood sliding across metal came from inside, and the door swung ajar. One after another the fugitives squeezed inside the grand, [url=https://i.imgur.com/I69muKF.png]wax-white cathedral.[/url]

A moment later the door closed behind them, but even though it shut out the baleful glare of the judge’s Vision, Barney did not feel at ease. In fact, he felt like he’d just stepped into the courthouse again. Although this place had a very different style, it seemed every bit as ostentatious, making even a big guy feel small, dirty, and unwanted. When it came to aesthetics, at least, he could appreciate its ornate, intricate archways and patterns over the gaudy gold and velvet lavishness of the courthouse. Whereas that other place felt oppressive, meant perhaps to convey the strength and authority of the one in charge, this cathedral sought less mundane, less worldly glorification. An incredible array of statues, all of them stooped or kneeling in worship, stood over countless candles, braziers, and little shrines. A single towering statue of a bearded man with the world on his back stood before the stained glass window at the far wall. Piles and even a few wagons of offerings could be found here and there. Maybe the others wouldn’t see the distinction -he honestly didn’t know if he could describe the difference himself- but he didn’t feel too bad about it. Then again, maybe it was just the halo effect--elation that he’d found a safe place, away from the deadly searchlight.

Caught up in examining his surroundings, Barney almost forgot about his host until the priest approached the newcomers. “Welcome, my lost lambs, to the Church of the One Most Worthy.”

Barney’s attention returned to the man, using the candlelight to take in the man’s features. For a moment he could not respond, suppressed by an inexplicable confusion. Something about this guy, about the same height as Barney, this priest looked heavier, with a bigger and redder beard, was terribly familiar, giving off the impression that Barney saw him somewhere before. He didn’t recognize those weird yellow eyes though, rather like the judge’s, if not quite as intense. Or that strange resonance to his voice, making it sound a little off, and hard to identify. Now that Barney got a good look at him, however, he saw the myriad clasps and chains that bound him. “You’re a prisoner, too?” he asked, letting slip a spur-of-the-moment question.

Expression grave, the stranger bowed his head. “I am. In my infinite charity I have accepted all bondage so that others may be free.”

Not much less confused, Barney asked his real question. “Do I know you?”

The priest gave a curious nod. “Why yes, my child. Though you have often turned your eyes from me, I have always been by your side.”

Barney gulped. [i]No way. It couldn’t be.[/i] “Wuh...what are you saying?”

“Hahaha!” the priest laughed. “That’s right. I am the worthy one. The holy one. The faultless one. He who shoulders the burdens of the helpless. He who suffers selflessly under their weight. The only one to whom the gratitude of the world itself is due...” Slowly, the priest extended his finger, pointing at Barney right in the heart. “...You.”

Barney blinked, taken utterly aback. “M-me?”

“Yes, you.” Spreading his arms wide, the stranger lifted up his arms, allowing his chains to glitter in the candlelight. “He whose very presence shines blessed light upon the woeful blight of the inferior. Saint Barney Rynsburger, at your service.” With a broad smile he clasped his hands, looking between the students. “You may now commence the thanks and praise.”

[hr]

[center][h3]Dakota Rhett, Vincent Cawler, Nick Waller[/h3][/center]

After narrowly avoiding the guards, Dakota and Vincent kept moving. For all of the veteran criminal’s experience against law-enforcement personnel of various stripes, the monstrous sentries of the Prison of Indictment somehow seemed to operate on movie logic after all. Though tireless as they were vicious, the guards lacked perception or large-scale coordination. Anyone with a few moments to think about the situation whilst hiding might note the lack of a general alarm, despite the presence of fugitives surely being common knowledge at this point. As odd as everything was, it afforded the escapees a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and they needed to make the most of it before the searchlights flared up once more.

Dakota could feel as much as hear the slight, ephemeral beat on the wind. It reached him again and again, faint but steady as a metronome. With Vincent beside him, Nick a ways behind, and the need for refuge growing every moment, he allowed it to guide him closer and closer to the entertainment center. A wary and a stop-and-go strategy kept them out of the way of the roaming guards until they finally reached the unusual structure. Jammed right in between two jailhouses and very different from them in construction, it seemed even weirder up close, but there was no time for second thoughts. They needed to get in.

The sheltering darkness within was a major relief. It promised to hide the fugitives from both the guards and the searchlights outside, giving them a chance to sink down for some long-overdue rest. From inside the venue, however, everyone could hear the music much louder and clearer than before. Following it even farther would lead to the music hall itself, a live performance in the dark awash with colorful spotlights. Nebulous, shadowy formers bounced in the audience before a stage with but one rockstar performer, playing as if there was no tomorrow.

[hr]

[center][h3]Jin Ifriti, Harriette Moore, Alina Sanford[/h3][/center]

Constantly harried and forced to scramble for any means of escape at every turn, Jin, Harriette, and Alina ended up ducking into one of the imposing jailhouses. After running past rows and rows of caged inmates, all either asleep in their beds or hard at work after their desks, they finally found a cranny to hide in. A single cell, larger than the rest and open, beckoned invitingly, like the mouth of a mysterious cave. One after another the three hurried inside. Pounding footsteps and angry shouts grew near, went by, and finally faded away. At long last, muscles burning from exertion and throats ragged from hyperventilation could rest, and all the pain accumulated since their arrival in this crazy, hellbent world could start to ease.

At least, that was the hope. The fugitives were not, sadly, that lucky. Once sure that their pursuers were long gone, they could turn on their phones’ flashlights to find that the cell was no longer open. Somehow, amidst all the commotion, metal bars had snaked across the door to form an impenetrable barrier. They were blocked in. Worse still, their lights told them they were not alone in here. Once directed downward their lights revealed human bodies scattered around the floor, contorted in horrific positions. Despite the initial shock, however, these ash-gray bodies featured no faces, and one touch was sufficient to reduce them to piles of dust. The real problem came after their lights flickered and died, in too quick a succession to possibly be coincidence. In the dark they could see two piercing red lights, side by side, casting them in a crimson glare--the eyes of some unknown horror.