Potemking

World of Light

LOCATION:The Maw
WORD COUNT: 1,431 (+3)
MENTIONS: A lot of people.

---

Upon starting his initial run, Mirage noticed Geralt's dive to the floor almost immediately. The first thing to run through his mind was panic that he'd just died on the spot, but then he recalled that Geralt hadn't eaten at all yet and he was probably exhausted. Curse or not, he might die if he pressed any further without food, so he'd need to get something in his stomach before they pressed too far forward. The defenseless of his previously death-dealing friend was more than inspirational to continue on the offensive however. And that inspiration was only fueled further as Mirage closed in and saw King Bowser get plonked on the head, and transformed much like Bella had moments ago.

"Gah! Hold on, I'm coming!" Fully aware Bowser could do nothing but hold on, he beat himself up for his choice of words, only to find the fight quickly turning in their favor. To his utter shock, the chef that had just died came back in spectral form, absolutely devastating their opposition along with a barrage of pans being tossed through the air. Not having time to question this, he simply took advantage of the chaos to get up close and personal. The closest one being his target, given it as still alive and Bowser remained a freshly-presented food item. The knocked down Wizard, as if it hadn't gotten enough between the pans and Larry's ghostly attack, was promptly blindsided by a yelling Mirage that brought his frying pan down upon it's head, the shrimp not exactly making for a durable body caused the center of it's head to sink downwards from the strike, though it showed signs of life as it's crushed eye tried to see what was happening. Wanting to stamp that life out, Mirage kept swinging, and soon found he wasn't alone, especially after Bowser (thankfully) transformed back to normal.

Add on Blazermate carrying in Ace and Nadia, and the whole gang had managed to get back together to lay a beatdown on these food-fools. After running for so long, actually winning combatively felt good. A helplessness he felt before began to disappear, and the victory they found both over the chefs and these wizards made him feel pretty pumped as a light in the darkness the Maw had placed on his shoulders. Breathing heavily, the two spirits on the ground were a reward for their efforts, though he wasn't quite sure what to do with them himself. He definitely did not want to fuse with one, as becoming partially-food after what he witnessed before was... Not ideal. Not that he thought Bella would eat him, or anything, but... A paranoia was there.

Trying to avoid that topic, Mirage simply left the Spirits to the others, in exchange for trying to raise the team's spirits with a little joy. "Didn't you guys just arrive at the most heroic moment!" He commented towards the recently arrived trio, offering a thumbs' up with his free hand towards Ace, Nadia, and their big 'ol robotic pal. It was a relief to see them, and it meant something very special, despite a a few members of the group having issues at the moment. "We actually won, and we're all still here! That's teamwork, yeah?"

As it seemed the trio that were downstairs had found a way forward, Mirage quickly made his preparations to get going in regards to getting a little more to eat, and anything else he needed to do. One in particular was to approach Blazermate in particular, as he was still hurting from having to beat himself back from Larry not long ago. "Got a little beat up," He explained with an amazing lack of detail, though it was proven by his face. "Help a guy out?" He pleaded in an almost comical sense, small grin on his face.

As for food... After Mirage got his head taken care of, he addressed that next. "Yeah, she's right." He added to Peach's comment about no meat, reaffirming it was a bad idea if Bella's words didn't help already. "I think I know the trigger, too." He looked down shamefully, noting that feeling from the taste of blood earlier. He was okay for the moment, but he was afraid of it happening again. "The blood from the butcher. The scent of it almost drove me nuts, I had to beat myself back before anything happened." It was, at the very least, an explanation for why he hadn't helped in the heat of the moment. He looked towards Bella for a moment, feeling shameful he hadn't jumped in to stop her. "Probably only had the chance to back away from it because I haven't eaten much. I'm just spectating-- Spectac--" He fumbled his words, before deciding to just explain it less fancily. "--Taking a wild guess." He concluded, changing topics to Geralt.

Approaching the boy, Mirage had a small frown of concern as he reached a hand out and placed it onto Geralt. "You hearin' any of this, bud? Don't eat much, but... We've gotta get you something before ya bite it." Unsure if the boy could ever hear him, he couldn't help but joke a little. "Guess I was half-right about the eternal hunger thing, but if we just get him a decent little portion of food he could at least walk, right?" Pondering for a moment, he snapped his small fingers in realization. "Not meat, huh? There's some cheese downstairs, in the mousetraps. Sounds bad, I know, but I definitely want more of that. Maybe we can get some for Geralt, too?"

Walking towards the stairs as it was time to get the hell out of here, Mirage decided he'd make a pitstop to get more cheese. Anyone who wanted a bit of goodness from the mousetraps were free to follow and ask for him to work his dart magic on another trap, the goggle-head expecting to possibly need to get some for Geralt anways. All he took for himself was one more glob. He chowed it down, not worrying about the seafood guy as he seemed rather passive in all of this. But after what had happened, who wouldn't? It was good to see that maybe at least one person around here wasn't absolutely insane. Though, speaking of non-insane individuals, where had their little behind-bars friend go? He was afraid to ask, so kept his concern quiet. Instead just waving off Fujimoto with a warning of "Just keep it that way!" instead of giving him any real issue. Another soul proven to possibly be not entirely bad, despite their position inside the Maw. Though this was was fully flesh, not a machine like before. Or a copied mind in a machine.

Thinking about his other self, Mirage slumped a little as he walked along.

Following Nadia through the hole that lead them closer to their goal, Mirage was surprised by how massive it felt compared to the other side of the wall. If anything was to make him feel small, this was definitely it. Though, his moment of gawking was interrupted by Nadia, who pointed out a very familiar threat they all wanted vengeance on. Agreeing with Nadia's suggestion, he nodded. "We're almost out of this, we gotta get up there after her!" With his agreement vocalized, he booked it for the stairs. Tiring as it was, the pick-me-up he grabbed on the way out helped, though he was still not feeling great after the whole ordeal. "Man, I haven't felt tired from exercise like this since I first decided to start training for the Games..." He complained, huffing out a sigh of relief due to at least reaching the top.

Taking a look out into the strange theater-like area, Mirage felt like this might be an easier place to avoid detection than some of the others. The stage was the main attraction, right? All they had to do was stay in the dark and keep away from there, and they could creep through without a ton of issues. Though, who's to say that these folks would even eat them? They looked quite disgusting in one way or another, with the large-gut crocodile carrying some regal flare, but none of it meant they were particularly hostile. Better to not find out, he figured.

As he waited for everyone to gather, Mirage made an obvious observation. "Unsurprising she disappeared." He wondered if one of those dark figures was actually her hiding in some fashion, she hadn't really raised a hand to fight to begin with after all. So for all they knew she was pretty defenseless on her own.

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Massive EXP Gains

Digimon Net Ocean: Nightmare Archipelago

I wake up and found that three whole posts were made while I was sleeping xP Time to get to work, I suppose!

Also, I hope you all understand that during their time in this village, Blucomon has tried to hug all of your Digimon at least once... which probably was particularly disastrous when it came to Herissmon, what with the quills and all.

@XxFellsingxX

On one hand, hugging a spiky menace is very dangerous for your own well-being.

On the other, it was probably awkward yet also accepted as some sort of psuedo-praise so there wasn't an actual issue.

Digimon Net Ocean: Nightmare Archipelago

Also @Potemking I love Reina already. "Statue? Nope, weapon!" XDDD

@CleverUsername

Herissmon might be a shoddy artist, but he made a perfect weapon for the ultimate form of self defense: Physical trauma!

Poor Abby, being driven up the wall by Impmon tomfoolery. Luckily they stepped outside or else Reina might've booted down the hut thinking someone was in danger from all the shouting, the result of such heroism being... Making the situation worse.

An attempt would have been made, at least

Digimon Net Ocean: Nightmare Archipelago

The revelations involving humans and partners left Herissmon feeling more cocky than ever: He knew there was more behind being banished than just him being hungry. The poor souls back at the village were just part of a bigger plot to push his destiny forward! The elder always spoke of humans, but admittedly the spiky-digimon never thought he'd get to see one with his own eyes. He thought of them as folklore, almost. Yet here he was, shipwrecked into destiny, and even getting his own little house to boot!

Anyone who had dealt with Herissmon's short but lively presence since arriving would know just how 'above it all' he seemed to be. Confidence soaring to new heights at the idea of being important enough to have to show a human the ropes of this world. It was truly a fitting thing for a 'hero', as Herissmon liked to tote himself as around the fire before heading back to work on his hut in private. It needed to be fitting for someone like him, which meant it needed a few very important things.

First of all, duh, food. All heroes needed food. Second, it needed prime decorations and Herissmon knew nobody better for the job than himself. None of the other supposed partners of the arriving humans seemed like the type to be usable for the task. He needed someone that knew his taste. Who knew he was right, and could make this home into a masterpiece. And who better for that than the 'mon himself? He invested his time in the most important thing he could think of adding:

A statue of himself.

He had dragged a log into the hut, which left an insulting and nasty drag trail in front of the other huts due to a lack of consideration. But after he got it inside his abode, he made use of it. With his claws, he tore into the log and carved it to the best of his abilities. Shreds and remains of the wood could be seen scattered inside the hut, the source material itself becoming an impressively dinky-looking statue. To most, anyways. To Herissmon himself, he considered it a masterpiece. And he wasn't about to take any other opinion on the matter.

---

For a person who thought she didn't have much structure in her life, Reina was becoming painfully self-aware of how predictable her routine had become lately. Wake up, work, train, sleep, repeat. Most meals came from her workplace, either eaten while on delivery or taken with her to the gym, like she'd done tonight. It was a small place, not exactly a large dent in her budget even if it did only have basics for equipment. The only notable thing it really had was a dirty but usable boxing ring, which she'd found herself in more times than she could think to count. Boxing specifically wasn't a forte of hers, but the footwork involved was valuable to her own goals. And she'd learned how to effectively throw a punch in there, too.

Like the punches she was throwing now, her gloved hands bashing against the bag in front of her with pent-up aggression that needed to be vented. As easy as the delivery job usually was, nothing ticked her off more than being blamed for the damn kitchen being slow. If food didn't come out on time, she didn't get out the door on time. Some punks didn't understand that though, and she paid for it by the tip money not coming in. Throwing hands over it would cause too many problems, and besides, where else would she get such flexible hours? Even if the boss got pissy over 'I don't feel like it' being her reasoning behind showing up, there was always some other fool to take the shifts. Probably not the best for her finances, but she had a tendency to not think that far ahead.

Huffing in frustration as she ceased her assault on the bag in front of her, the chains holding it up offered a few empty jingles that echoed through the empty gym. Evening wasn't really an active time for this place, between the early afternoon scene and the fact the owner was a pretty old dude who locked the place up tight in the evenings. She was a 'good ol' regular' according to the old stinker, and her routine in coming here before closing lead to him making a spare key to the front door.

She brought an arm up, raising her hair from her eyes as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, barely getting a look at herself in a nearby mirror due to the darkness of the room. She could faintly make out her figure though, and spot the white stripes on her otherwise black nylon pants she wore during training. With just her black tanktop on, she almost looked like she had no torso in the dark, simply seeing her light-toned arms in the mirror, along with her head.

"Spending too much time alone makes you think of some weird shit." She muttered to herself, trying to disregard her own thoughts on her figure. Another distraction quickly aided in this, hearing her phone ring atop her waist jacket over on a nearby seat. She raised a brow, uncertain of exactly who the hell would be calling at this hour, but she figured she'd at least take a look. At worst, the boss lost his late night delivery guy and needed someone to cover. A few extra bucks wouldn't hurt at the moment.

Phone picked up in one hand with her jacket in the other, Reina only grew more confused by the fact there was no identification for the caller. Not deterred by this, she answered the call swiftly with a mellow "Y'hello?" Expecting some sort of spam call she could perhaps play along with for a few minutes to pass the time.

Unfortunately, this hadn't been the case at all.

An excessive ringing played out in her ears, causing her to wince and nearly drop her phone on the ground. "The heck is this?! Some kind of prank to blow out people's eardrums?" She vented aloud. As if that wasn't disruptive enough, a crackling in the air brought with it a shift in her hair, which she quickly panicked about by tucking her jacket under her arm and bringing her hand up to brush that hair back down. "Okay, loud ringing's one thing but this--" Her view shifted through the general area, uncertain of where the gym went. This was like some absurd horror stuff out of Silent Hill, and was about the last straw before she expressed her concern in a less dull and irritated tone: "--This isn't normal!"

The fog wasn't even there anymore. The ringing stopped, leaving her in what felt like a dreamless white void of momentary silence. Sounds of waves drifted in, along with shifting trees and the crackling of a bonfire. All strange, at least until things started fading back into view.

---

After a job well done on his statue, Herissmon had went to reward himself on his hard work by washing his claws, and then getting some food. However not long after choosing something to bite down on, he was brought to a full stop with his mouth gaped open before partaking, due to a bright light emitting from the hut he had been inside of. Hastily, he shoved the food back on the table, standing more attentive in case the humans, particularly the one coming out of his hut, ended up being a threat of any kind.

---

Reina's mind was running wild as she appeared inside the hut. An audible "Wuh?!" escaping as she tried to gather herself to figure out where she just ended up. Her first action were to take in her surroundings: Noting the primitive straw walls and bedding that honestly looked pretty comfy all things considered, as well as some weird piece of wood. Glancing at it, it looked like some sort of really weird statue of an animal. She picked it up, not to look at it, but to instead wield as a weapon in case whatever was outside proved to be unfriendly. Hard to trust whatever was out there directly after being abducted like that, right?

"Am I running along with this too calmly?" She pondered to herself, with slight concern. She wondered how much regard she had for her well-being if she could just accept being transported into some primal-looking hut. Though thinking too hard wouldn't solve anything, so she decided to push aside the leafy door to the hut to get a good solid look at what the hell was going on around here.

The brightness of the fire caused her to raise her arm to block it, allowing her eyes a little time to adjust before lowering it to her side. As she took in the sight, noting the strange creatures, the food, and the odd decorations, she felt her arms limp, the statue in one hand almost falling to the ground. Complete and utter shock rocked her features, mostly an agape mouth which might've been a little too comparable to a certain creature amongst the crowd that seemed to be staring at her in particular with a similar expression.

"What is this?" She questioned, not being able to pull out threats or more questions to try and quell her confusion. Just answering that one would be a good start. This looked like the middle of a village of... Sorts. And she was surrounded by freaking penguin-things, among other abnormal creatures. If she was less stunned by the whole situation, she might've started swinging out of fear or anger. But this moment of confusion gave the creatures of the village a moment to celebrate, or for their own good, explain things. Now.

NetOcean: Nightmare Archipelago || Closed

Sorry to be a complete numpty, but how does one apply? I'm new to the site

@Phantom Exile

The main post in the OOC here will help you get started, you can find both the character and digimon sheets to fill out there.

I don't think it's necessary but most of us send it to Wayward in a PM, so you could send it that way once you're finished, or post it in the OOC tab of the thread I linked above

World of Light

LOCATION:The Maw
WORD COUNT: 861 (+2)
MENTIONS: Rika

---

Despite their rescue being a success, Mirage couldn't help but feel demoralized. His eyes rested on the scene before him, looking at those who pleaded for Bella to stop. Yet there he stood, too terrified to move. Too terrified to try and help before. Instead he ran away from it, though rescuing Sakura and Rika was a noble goal he used it as an excuse to turn his head, and not confront that hunger which brought genuine fear into his heart.

Looking at Bella now, it wasn't hard to think of what would've happened to him had he not fought himself back. Her body definitely had gotten bigger, and though she towered over them now she'd probably have a hard time with the sudden weight he assumed only the curse could cause. He felt sorry for her, and only wished he'd tried and stepped in sooner. But a more realistic side of his own arguing mind told him that he couldn't of stopped that maw anyways, or it could've possibly came at him instead. Was that just him looking for more excuses?

Not to mention poor Geralt. Smart Geralt, honestly, who looked exhausted but hadn't partaken at all. They needed to get everyone out of here sooner than later, as before long it'd seem like they'd be pulling some of the others along. Mirage considered eating more, he'd already messed up after all, but didn't see anything particularly appetizing. The meat wasn't acceptable, not after what he'd just experienced. Adding onto that, if he ate too much, he'd end up an absolute mess. At that point he might be dead weight anyways.

Man, all this worrying was only making him more hungry.

Before he had much time to confine in anyone aside from Kamek about this mess, things took a turn for the worse. Those strange food-creatures he'd seen downstairs had decided to come up and investigate Larry's struggle. They made too much noise it seemed, and they were obviously ready to attack on sight. Which they did, globs of flour seemingly being their choice of attack, though it had an odd presence to it. In a jarring movement, Bella threw herself front and center for those attacks, tears still in her eyes. "H-Hey! Stop--" His words fell into practically a void as she was struck, her transformation shocking him.

All those regrets he was feeling bubbled over in an instant, it was almost too much to see her in the state she was in. Let alone now finding himself in uncertainty of she was alive at all, or just... Gone from that attack. That was the second time, within moments, he'd failed to keep her out of harm's way. This time she even put herself into harm for not only him, but everyone gathered. And that wasn't a pleasant feeling in the slightest. That left one choice, which was where Mirage usually ended up in these situations. Where he felt pained, or strained emotionally. A lot of that happened back in the Apex Games, and the only thing he could do then was press on and fight. This wouldn't be any different.

At the very least, Mirage wouldn't let Bella become food for these monsters.

Reaching into the small pile of pots and pans used to make their rescue tower, Mirage yanked out a pan he could hold reasonably, eyes darting forward. The way they leisurely floated along on those bowls of theirs might've meant they'd be pathetic without them. Knowing he wasn't the most practical melee fighter among them, he tried to use his head a little instead. Rika was the closest person around who had a similar combat capability as he usually did, so he approached quickly to suggest a plan. "I bet those bowls they're on would shatter if you took some potshots at 'em." He brought the pan forward in one hand and smacked it into his opposite palm, nodding. "Then when I get over there, I'll try and th'wack 'em. Let's get Bella back!"

With this small plan in mind, Mirage took a slightly indirect approach. He'd pace around to the side, and hopefully be able to rush at them from a non-forward angle. At worst he hoped to get a good hit on one of those bowls to knock one down if necessary, and at best he hoped a surprise pan from the side would help knock one of the wizard's apart. They couldn't be that durable, right? They looked like a bunch of loosely put-together food, he thought physical violence could work wonders.

While it was worrisome that Peach was diving straight ahead, he figured most of the others were going to do the same thing. If Rika landed her shots, then that'd possibly work wonders as they'd be able to wail directly on those (admittedly delicious) looking monstrosities. Overall, the important thing would be to try and box them in, and not let them pass towards Bella's vulnerable now-foody self.

If it'd work out, only everyone's actions would tell. But he wasn't going to run away from Bella and fail her potentially for a third time, he'd do what he could to ensure they didn't get near her.

Digimon Net Ocean: Nightmare Archipelago

F.

Get some rest, don't worry about the post if you're exhausted.

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Dakota Rhett

_{November 29th? - Proving Grounds}

---

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 "It's me."

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.

Garu, the power of wind...

Dia, the power of healing...

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 fend off 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 helping 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... 'Dia?'"

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.

"Thamyris!"

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.

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Dakota Rhett

_{November 29th? - Entertainment Hall}

---

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. "You've got nowhere to go." 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.

"You can only run for so long, do you really think I'll tire out before you?!" 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. "Your luck's ran out. I'll use you as an example, then I'll make use of these tools you brought with you!"

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

"Giving up? I knew you never had any spine!" 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. "What?!" 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. "Why?" It called weakly, glaring forward at the three who caused this whole ordeal, but Dakota especially. "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. Why?!"

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."

"We..."

"Eh?" Dakota blinked.

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

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?"

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

"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. "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." It looked up to Dakota, determination in it's eyes. "This is a promise we can make? To fuel ourselves past this glooming and procrastination, to have more progressive lives?"

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. "So this is what freedom feels like," It remarked, sporting a small comforted smile. "Let's make it last."

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.

"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."

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 hell 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 too much." He complained as he tried to make sense of the situation now that they had a moment of calm.