[center][h3]Barney Rynsburger[/h3][/center]

Going through the motions was easy enough, since how many times had he seen some stalwart hero stay behind to buy time for his team in movies and such? When Barney actually turned away from the alleyway to face the incoming guards, however, he couldn’t suppress a nervous swallow. Here he stood with just one ally by his side against a small horde of enemies, the same whose ruthlessness had left the group bloody and broken not even half an hour ago, and whose strength could crack solid concrete, to say nothing of their abilities once transformed. Never in his life had he chosen to fight; instead he’d avoided conflict like the plague, quietly taking pride in himself as he ceded others their meaningless little victories. That meant that opposing his Shadow had been hard enough, but in a way that fight felt destined. This first real battle would be an entirely different beast.

Barney took a deep breath and steadied himself. He wouldn’t back down, but he couldn’t muster Dakota’s bravado, either. As invigorating as this new power was, he knew better than to think that it was the end-all be-all. His problems wouldn’t be solved in a day, and he couldn’t afford to be reckless. Even an ordinary knife had the power to kill, and anyone could wield one. It wasn’t power alone that determined success, but knowledge, competence, and experience. Right now, even as he brought out his wagon wheel and stood tall beside Dakota, he knew he had none of those things.

“[i]But you have me.[/i]”

That voice again. Scratchy. Growly. Monstrous, but in the way one might expect of a villain in a kid’s show. Like groundwater it welled up to Barney from deep below, or maybe deep within. He watched, spellbound, as Dakota unleashed his Persona. The same feathered virtuoso that appeared to heal the small group’s wounds manifested with a flourish, revealing Dakota’s fighting spirit to the gathered crowd of prison guards in a grand display. Even the air itself seemed to move at Thamyris’ command.

“[i]What are you waiting for?[/i]” the voice of Barney’s Persona grouched. “[i]Let’s go![/i]”

“R-right!” the bearded student stammered, quickly clearing his throat. “Let’s go, Samsa!”

A plume of blue flame erupted from the ground beneath him, and as if crawling out from the earth, Gregor Samsa appeared in all his verminous glory. He lifted Barney up beneath him, fangs and claws bared, his many eyes flaring with nuclear power. The prison guards responded in kind, contorting before releasing geysers of black smoke that unveiled the monsters within. Four of the creatures that Shadow Pondwater named Shax, and two of the leonine wheel demons he called Buer. Three each, if things broke down evenly. But Barney didn’t get time to strategize.

Immediately two of the stork monsters returned Thamyris the favor by beating their own wings. Crescent-shaped dark blades sped toward the defenders, and Barney knelt to get out of their way. Kneeling down for balance he called out, “Left!” and Samsa veered sideways, out of the path of one of the Eiha. The second was already too close to coordinate another dodge, however, and it struck the pair head-on. “Ouch, dangit!” It hurt a lot more than it should have, eliciting a splash of blood as he was knocked down. He only got to his knees before the Buer swung in like a flaming boomerang, smashing into his wheel with cloven feet before flying back to its original position. Blocking mitigated the force, leaving Barney still intact, so even with a fresh wound he was beyond ready to dish out some damage of his own. “My turn!”

Except it wasn’t. Rather than wait for him to come and smack them with his wheel, the demons attacked again. One Shax unwound its serpentine neck and lashed out like a bladed flail, putting Barney on the defensive long enough for a narrowly missed Eiha to prompt an emergency dodge, which ended with another spin kick from the Buer. “Gah!” he growled, paralyzed by indecision. These monsters were already having a field day with him. What was he going to do?!”

“Hey!” Spindle’s voice blasted his ear through her loop of thread. “That ain’t a shield, dude! Stop tryin’ to block ‘em and hit those stinkin’ varmints!” Barney grimaced, barely suppressing the urge to complain that he was trying. [i]This isn’t working![/i] he fretted, starting to panic.

“[i]Because you’re fighting on their terms.[/i]”

Barely avoiding another attack, Barney took a swing at the marauding Buer, but it got out of range before he could make contact. Desperate for guidance, he listened as he continued to fight.

“[i]You are no knight in shining armor,[/i]” Samsa hissed at him. “[i]I am not your steed. And we are not defenders. We’re meant to ATTACK![/i]”

A herculean effort from Barney turned a near-certain laceration into a glancing blow. “Then attack!”

“[i]I move at your command![/i]” his Persona growled. “[i]You can’t just stand atop me, take your turns, and expect me to do all the work for you. Have me cover you, then in there and mess them up![/i]”

“How!?” Barney hissed through gritted teeth.

“[i]Stop overthinking and do it! You know the word![/i]”

“I…” Barney’s wide eyes watched the Buer spinning up, ready for another burning revolution. Then his brows furrowed, and his muscles sprang into action. “Frei!”

Samsa buried his claws in the ground to steady himself, then unleashed a wave of frothing, sizzling, flesh-eating nuclear energy. It swept across the dirt like a wave over the shore and erupted beneath the Buer, stopping it in its tracks. The Shaxes attacked, sending forth their projectiles, but rather than dodge or try to block, Barney leaped forward, using Samsa like a springboard to soar through the air with his coattails flapping in the wind. He fell upon the Buer with his wheel upheld and smashed it into the dirt beneath its edge. As it roared in pain the nearest Shax prepared another spell, but this time it was the one getting stopped before it could start. A bash with the wheel threw it off balance, and then Barney aimed a kick to topple it just as Vincent had done earlier. By that time the other Shax unwound its neck for another scything swipe, but Barney turned with his hand extended. “Nail it, Samsa!”

With a snarl his Persona appeared beside him, swinging its bladed pedipalps to skewer the stork like a Thanksgiving turkey. Something odd about the heavy blow seemed to strike fear into the creature, and never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Barney followed up with a hearty battle cry and a vertical overhead slam of his wheel. He kicked it in the head while it was down for good measure, and with a shrill cry the demon melted away into shadow.

“Nice!” Spindle called down through the wire. “One down, five to go!”

Barney watched the demon die for a moment, ecstatic, before turning back to the others. If offense was the ticket, he’d keep it up. To avoid being surrounded he backpedaled toward Dakota, but not so much as to leave his effective range. [i]One down, five to go,[/i] he repeated in his mind, and ran forward.