[Center][h2]Dakota Rhett[/h2]
[sub]November 29th? - Entertainment Hall[/sub]
[hr]
[/Center]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[b][i]"We..."[/i][/b]

"Eh?" Dakota blinked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Center][b][i]"I am thou, thou art I...
Together, we will find joy despite being torn from our walks of life.
Break free from this worldwide cage, and find your freedom."
[/i][/b][/Center]

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

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

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