Oh, hell. Hope is paying almost complete attention to the encroaching threat and does not feel like engaging, but... damn it. It would be so easy to just run. It used to be so easy to just run, but now they have this power that's supposed to make them feel braver, more empowered—whenever they aren't themself. They grit their teeth and clench their fists.

"Get out of here," they say to their new friend, and they are not equipped to fight at all, but they're going to try. They need to try, because Nautis saw something in them, and because this person doesn't even know their name and if anything goes bad then they'll be safe. Probably. "I'll hold it off until help gets here." And to the encroaching creature, they say, "I don't dance."

"I know you can!" it says with a massive smile on its face, and as Hope throws a punch, it grabs their hand and does... does something to them. The music isn't as bad anymore, is it? The buzz and thrum and the ache in their gut, they all don't matter so much, do they? No, the only thing that matters is the rhythm that's pulsing through their chest like a second heartbeat as their feet start to move, nearly independent from their body.

They can't hear anything over the new beat, but they cry out while they can still talk, "Go! Now!"