Frederica <Ambushed> the Inout.

The two-headed monster howled as the Assassin plunged her swords into the back of the wolf-head's neck. Frederica danced back as the frog-head opened too wide and sucked in a large amount of air, pulling the woman back towards it.

Penelope cast <Vine Snare>, the spell she could use thanks to her pants, on her friend, stopping Frederica from being sucked closer to the monster's claws. She countered the attack, silencing the wind and releasing her friend.

The moment the vortex stopped, the Lady Mane and Speckled Stalker pounced, the two Demons ignoring taunts from Tanks as they ran after Frederica.

Shadowy shackles grabbed Penelope, locking her wrists against her hips. She <Countered> the spell and focused her attention on the Terror Bug. The Breathless Death went after the smaller group, while white light stopped the black blood oozing out of the stump where the Inout's wolf head had been.

"The Vairfly is a HEALER!" Circe fired a few shots at the two melee bosses. Her attempt at shackling them to the floor lasted mere moments as the chains snapped, but it gave Frederica extra time to get away.

"Fae, lock down that frog! Pen, take the other Caster off the board; we've got the frontline!" Patrick clenched his shield and charged into the Lady Mane, only to bounce off the charging Demon.

Penelope <Blinked> around the fight, <Countering> the standing bug-demon's building spell. She launched a volley of <Light Balls>, aiming for its head, only to have it snipe them out of the air with short <Air Darts>.

YOU THINK THAT WILL WORK ON ME?

Penelope ignored the barb as more <Air Darts> shot her way. <Blinking> was faster than trying to <Counter> each one of them and after the third teleport, she found herself out of range of the rest of the fighting. Trusting that her friends could handle themselves, Penelope went on the offensive, shooting <Light Bolt> out of both of her wands. The streaks of light tore through the projectiles in their way as they locked into the armored Demon's face.

The Terror Bug was able to get its arms up in time to block the magic, earning black marks on both forearms. It charged her, its fists swelling as it swung.

Nope, not doing melee! Penelope <Blinked> away, putting distance between them. A volley of <Air Darts> found her, pelting her robes the moment she landed. Before she could retaliate, another set of <Shackles> lashed her arms to her sides, forcing her to use <Counter> to free herself.

Another <Counter> was needed to stop the large spell that the Terror Bug had begun building. The Demon howled in frustration, then ran at her again.

YOU'LL RUN OUT OF MANA BEFORE I DO! THEN I'M GOING TO WEAR YOUR PRETTY HAIR AS A NECKLACE!

Penelope blasted it with a pair of <Light Bolts>, then rolled to her right instead of <Blinking>. She was having to move farther away from the rest of the group, but there was plenty of open space behind her to fight. She was faster than it, able to move out of range of the flailing fists the size of her head, but her stamina wasn't going to hold up in a battle of dodging. It would only take one wrong step and one of the huge fists would knock her unconscious.

Three more <Light Bolts> scoured the chitin on the Demon's arms and one managed to draw a black mark across its face. The Terror Bug roared and unclenched its hands, throwing itself at the smaller woman. The swipes came faster, changing the tempo of their dance. Then she stepped to her left, right into a sideways kick.

Ribs cracked as pain shot from her stomach to her hands and feet like lightning, followed by the burning numbness that radiated from the point of impact. Her body was launched into the air, bouncing her off the 10-foot-high ceiling.

Penelope <Blinked> as she fell, saving her from the plank on top of the Demon's head that rammed into the ceiling where she'd been. She ended up in a crouch, her arms cradling her injured side as her fingers tingled as she dug into her pocket for a Healing Potion, then she <Blinked> away again to give herself space to drink the potion.

A smile spread across the Demon's face as it pointed at her.

WIN.

Dark shadows swirled around the Terror Bug as it charged the spell it had been trying to cast throughout their fight. Penelope threw a <Counterspell> at it, but she'd <Blinked> more than a hundred feet away. She downed the spicy liquid in one gulp, then drained one of the minty Mana Potions to top off her mana.

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What did it just cast? Penelope charged <Light Bolts> out of both of her wands and wrapped the crackling spell around her arms.

"It's a TERROR Bug." Jeru groaned. "You need to get out of here; if you get hit with that spell, it's going to make <Fear> feel like your social anxiety."

Shadows split off of each side of the Demon, forming a wall of darkness veering diagonally from the Terror Bug. Instead of the ten-foot sections that most of the Humans could create, this wall reached fifty feet past Penelope, with the ends curving behind her to block off her escape.

Penelope hit the flickering shadows with <Counterspell>, but that only blasted fist-sized holes in the cold, black flames that reached out of the wall.

Jeru's words came out so fast they almost ran together. "You have to hit it at the source!"

The path between them vanished as Penelope became completely encircled by the shadowy wall of hungry flames. The tendrils morphed into the featureless faces of people, each one of them saying something different.

Ha-ha-ha

AHHH!!!!

Help me!

You're going to die!

The last face opened its mouth too wide and tried to swallow her. Penelope blasted it apart with <Light Bolt>, but there were too many faces. She twisted her spell around her to fight them off, the sparks from her spell flashing against the shadows writhing over her. She ran through all the Mana the potion had given her in a few seconds and before she could take a second one, the spell collapsed on her.

Ice crept into her bones, electricity hummed in her nerves, and fire burned her skin as her heart thundered in her ears. The eyes of thousands of people stared at her on a stage where she wore nothing but the mocking shadows that were tearing at her mind.

Pain, panic, and fear tethered her to the ground. The wands slipped out of her trembling hands and clattered on the cold stone. Blindness settled over her, which amplified the sound of her heart in her ears and swelled the lump in her throat to the point she was wheezing as she gasped for air.

Someone screamed at her from the corner of her mind, but that voice was drowned in the crashing thunder in her ears. The shadows tightened around her, crushing her like people packed too tightly into a subway car.

Time froze, silencing the buzzing as the landscape warped into the familiar scene of her bedroom. Penelope took a deep breath as the sharp scent of pine trees filled her lungs.

"What's going on?"

"I didn't think that would work." Jeru appeared on her bed. Instead of his usual purple robe, he was wearing jeans and a black shirt with yellow letters that read 'What's Your Second Wish?'. The blue Elf propped himself up on an elbow as he looked around the tidy room. "So this is your safe place."

"How did we get in my room?" Penelope took a step forward and stubbed her toe on the cedar hope chest at the foot of her bed. "Ow!" She hopped on one foot as she rubbed the injured one. "What is this place?"

"A dreamscape." Jeru puffed out his chest. "Jhy showed me how to do it, but I haven't been able to do it with a Looper unless they retreated deep into themselves."

"Your sister?" Penelope scrunched her brow.

Jeru nodded. "She's the best Dream Rider they ever had!" He frowned. "Before they kicked her off." He waved his hand as the room shook. "But we don't have time for that story."

"So why did you pull me in here?" Penelope eyed the man relaxing on her bed.

"Because time effectively stops in here and you're about to die." Jeru sat up. "We can reset it if you want, but that Demon lit you up like a Christmas Tree and that's not something that just goes away when you reset." He frowned. "It will gnaw at the corners of your mind until you face it."

The whole room shook. Cracks splintered the walls as bits of ceiling dust rained down on them.

"It's not a perfect dream, I get it!" Jeru shouted at the walls, then turned back to Penelope. "Look, it's going to feel like jumping into ice water when you go back out there, but fear follows you through the loops and something like this…" He motioned at the buckling walls. "If it's not in the rotation next time…" His voice trailed off.

"You're worried about me." Penelope hugged herself.

"I'm worried about all of this, but the storm that is just you existing is more weight than most people ever feel." He steepled his fingers. "I've seen things like this destroy other Loopers."

"So you want me to what?" Penelope pointed out the window at the darkness. "Hold onto the power of friendship and overcome this through willpower and song?"

Jeru snorted. "We'd be screwed if that was the way out."

Penelope glared at him.

"You know what I mean." He held up his hands. "You can't even let Circe give you a hug and she's the closest thing you've got out there to a friend." He bounced off the bed to his feet.

Penelope took two steps back.

Jeru nodded. "And even though you're more okay with me being in your head, you still don't want to be close enough that I could hug you."

"I get it; I can't make friends." Penelope sighed. "Can you just skip to the part where you tell me what to do instead of reminding me how I'm broken?"

"Fear is always going to be a part of you." The wall behind the blue Elf blew outward. "Find something you're more afraid of losing and use that as your strength."

The room collapsed before Penelope could ask what he meant.

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