[center][h3]Nick Waller[/h3]
[hr]
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It was lucky that it took until Nick was nearly at the nightclub for the searchlight to come back to life, searching across the prison yard for the escapees, heralded by a blaring alarm. Nick hurried up a little bit when it started up again, not willing to risk being caught so close to the group's goal. He continued his tactic of alternating between hiding when he thought he heard guards, and jogging when he thought he was clear. 

Honestly, it was kind of a miracle that it worked, given the fact that he was pretty sure he had a bit of tunnel vision still and his heart was pounding like a drum, his legs were sore from the whole beating thing, and that there were actually quite a few guards around. Still, even with the odds seemingly against him, Nick made it to the rave and stumbled in, barely catching Vincent's back as he and Dakota carried onward. 

Half-walking, half-jogging to catch up, Nick barely gave any notice to the empty ticket booths other than to note that it [i]was[/i] kind of odd, but then again they were in a rave club in a prison inside a spooky mirror dimension, so odd was relative. 

The sheer level of activity was making his hairs stand up on end, but Nick carried on through, not wanting to be left too far behind. Catching up to the other just before the singer's performance ended, Nick took a moment to breathe and greeted them. "Hey. Fuck. Thank god I caught up. Wanted to...stick together. Everybody kinda just ran off in different directions, figured you guys seemed cool." His breathing didn't take long to level out, and in a moment the music was interrupted by the announcement of their VIP. 

And apparently the main act wanted them all to join him on the stage? Nick looked behind them, following Dakota's lead in not trusting anybody here, but the sight of a wall of people blocking him off forced him to turn his head back to the stage, as if unwilling to register their existence. Shaking off the dread that was building, Nick stuck by Dakota but kept ahead, trying to make sure the crowd didn't make contact with him and physically force him forward. 

As they made it to the bottom, the singer and Dakota started talking. How he was a prisoner of passion, trapped here and forced to perform endlessly to a crowd that couldn't truly appreciate his talent. 

[i]Oh no. A pretentious douche.[/i] Nick thought, uncharitably. Huffing his own farts, head up his own ass, thought his shit didn't stink pretention. Held back by jealous people afraid to be overshadowed by his gloriousness. 

He'd heard it all before. At least, he thought he had, until the singer called out Dakota as holding back out of fear, then....

Oh. [i]OH.[/i] Oh no. Oh that was not good. 

They found Mirror Dimension Dakota. Which was apparently this guy's name. Huh, good to know. Looking between the two, it was easy to see the resemblance, even if the exact details were off, and it wasn't difficult to see that Dakota wasn't handling it well. Truth be told, getting exposed like that by your mirror world doppelganger probably wouldn't have gone well for him, so Nick decided to try and repay Dakota's kindness from earlier by giving him a quick but firm hand on the shoulder. "Hey, hey man. Dakota, right? I, uh, can imagine this is pretty fucked up for you right now. But you had my back before, I got yours now." 

Turning to the Shadow Dakota, Nick narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the man, thinking on what he said. Locked away, held back and backstabbed by others for fear they'd outshine them, unrealized potential in somebody who would rather fade into obscurity? Was this some kind of subconscious therapy session? Nick had a retort on the tip of his tongue, but held back for a moment, not sure if he wanted to risk offending Dakota. 

In the end, he just gave a simple reply. "Not everybody can match the pace you want when it comes to overcoming trauma. It's a lot more complex than just 'pushing past boundaries' dude, it's re-wiring your entire way of thinking. It takes time, and training, and a lot of dedication." It was a bit of a guess, but the parts about being turned on and robbed, then allowing yourself to fade into obscurity? It sounded like Dakota was kind of like him, in some twisted, fucked-up way.