[Center][h2]Dakota Rhett[/h2]
[sub]November 29th? - Proving Grounds[/sub]
[hr]
[/Center]

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

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

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

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

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

[Center][i]Garu, the power of wind...

Dia, the power of healing...[/i][/Center]

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

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

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

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

[Center]"Thamyris!"[/Center]

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