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

A vicious outburst of Curse from the monstrosity’s hurled weapon put a momentary stopper in Barney’s plans to roast it like a marshmallow, but not for long. Rather than a graceful dodge roll the hatted man pulled off more of an ungainly flop, but considering how much stronger this aberrant Shadow looked than those gangly Shaxes, anything beat getting hammered by that terrible element again. Once well out of harm’s way he got to his feet, hefted his flamethrower, and let loose.

From his makeshift flamethrower gushed a torrent of vivid neon blue, an unnatural and alarming shade of energy that seemed almost as much liquid as it did fire. The Nuclear tide slammed into the Shadow like it had physical weight to it, and though it had been idealistic for Barney to hope that his own element might reveal itself as this monster’s vulnerability, he discovered a profound sort of enjoyment in the act nonetheless. He couldn’t quite understand, let alone articulate, the primal satisfaction that bathing this thing in Nuclear fire brought him, but after a hellish couple hours of supernatural suffering he wasn’t about to dial it back. Only after a moment did he realize that the yelling that filled the air was his, and it took a handful of clicks before he registered that his flamethrower had run dry. With his magic and firepower depleted, and any physical skills liable to render him unconscious from the backlash, he could do little but let his firearm disappear and sink down to the ground. The rest was up to the others.

Luckily, the other guys didn’t seem eager to let the Shadow regain control over the battle. Caelum, bless his heart, seemed to be taking action once more. The guts it took to come out of one monstrous encounter, gain nothing but bruises and fatigue for Caelum’s efforts efforts, and then willingly take up arms to fight through the next, filled Barney with awe. After the first time any sane person would have gotten as far away from a fight like this as possible, and been thoroughly justified in doing so, but Caelum did not run away. If anyone deserved to get a Persona, it was this guy. 

Of course, he needed an opening to introduce that rebar of his to the Shadow’s vital areas, and even with his own Persona powers diminished Dakota, Dakota was determined to help. In the corner of Barney’s eye a radiant light suddenly blared into existence, flying forth in a parabolic arc. [i]A flare?[/i] Barney shielded his eyes from the miniature shooting star, which turned out to be a great idea when it exploded against the enemy’s body. The brilliant flash left the Shadow dazzled, blind and unable to stop a surprise impalement at Caelum’s hands.

It hit the dirt, broken and vulnerable. In an instant Barney recognized the same critical opportunity that gave him the chance to end things with his own blasted nemesis back in the cathedral, but Nick didn’t need someone else to tell him to strike down this disturbing parody once and for all. “Kick his ass!” Barney cheered, mustering what spirit he could. The pounding of Nick’s feet against the littered ground brought him into melee range in seconds, allowing him to put all his anger and frustration into a mighty hammer swing straight into the Shadow’s head. A bloodcurdling crack sounded out, and the wall of Curses flickered. That was all Barney needed to pump his fist, celebrating one more demon conquered. “Yes!”

With blistering speed, however, he found that his celebration had been premature. Not to be done in so easily, the Shadow lashed out and felled Nick with a single blow. Barney’s blood froze as the monster then picked him up, filling the tense air with jeers. Their gambit hadn’t worked. Nick was going to die! “Dag...nabbit!” The war cleric grit his teeth as called forth his wheel, which he used for support as he fought to stand, but his tired muscles just didn’t want to listen. “Hold...on!” He managed to get to his feet, but a couple dozen feet between him and the Shadow might as well have been a couple dozen miles. After shooting a bewildered look at Vincent, as if to scream [i]do something![/i], then at an unknown punk-looking guy who’d appeared out of the blue nearby, he realized that he had no other choice. “Samsa…!” he groaned, invoking the bestial Persona that could fight on his behalf. “Save...save!”

Before he could do anything, a wall of pressure struck him, and as Samsa faded it became all that Barney could do to keep himself from falling over. He looked up, taken aback, to find Nick at the center of it all, surrounded by familiar azure flames. It dawned on the spectator that he must be witnessing the very same phenomenon that had overtaken him not so long ago: the liberation of his soul, and with it the birth of a power strong enough to save himself from destruction. The man in the monster’s grip now looked less like a scared teenager and more like a soldier, and though Barney couldn’t see any Persona floating by his side, he knew what had taken place. Nick Waller had awakened.

“Hell yeah!” Spindle whooped. “Welcome to the wakin’ world, soldier boy!”

A burst of submachine gun fire ripped into his tormentor, breaking its hold as it reeled and roared in pain. Free from the monstrous thing in more ways than one, Nick rallied the troops. Inspired and more than ready to put the freakish Shadow to rest, Barney steadied himself and manifested his own Persona beneath him to carry him forward. If what happened during Barney’s own awakening held true here, this creature would begin to mutate out of control, having been hollowed out by the loss of what became Nick’s strength. Reduced to a chaotic, gibbering mess of self-perpetuating negativity in a last ditch attempt to destroy the original, it was nothing more than trash that needed to be disposed of. Almost like an inauguration ceremony--out with the old and in with the new. 

Either way, they needed to act fast, and none knew it better than Spindle. Having been flying so low as to endanger herself in the fight, she spotted her chance when the wretched mass went to pursue Nick, and reached out with Odradek’s power. The next instant the Shadow ran into a web of silken threads, stuck tight for as long as it took to ooze through the gaps. “Yah! Got that sorry sumbitch! Alrighty fellas, time to cream its corn!” She looked back to save at Vincent, Barney, and Dakota, noticing Lorenzo as she did with no small amount of surprise. “Hold on, who’n tarnation are you?! Wait wait, it don’t matter, just hurry up and help us kick that thing’s keister ‘fore we’re all toast!”