Lauren was, once more, thrown completely off guard - everything was happening so fast, all at once. One moment, he was absorbed in the group's energies, the next...
He stumbled backwards, the girl in front of him letting out a fierce howl - he was already somewhat startled by her as a whole, but now she was outright scary, and then he spotted the Houndoom, his vision barely adapted enough to make out the canid figures. Of course, he wasn't sure /what/ they were exactly, but he knew they were bad news - and what's more, their accompaniment. A bulky man who looked to be carrying weapons stepped forwards towards the group, antagonistic feelings abound radiating from him.
Lauren fell backwards, arms still bound down, he had no chance to attempt to balance nor catch himself... Strangely, however, he didn't seem to hit the ground - not so much as he seemed to fall into it. He was in the shade of the trees again.. an in a literal sense - it was almost as if he had fallen into the shadow itself, observing the world from an out-of-body third-person perspective as a darkened glob creeping through the shadowy grass marked little more than his very essence. What was more, he could see clearly, even in the bright sunlight, eyes no longer a factor - albeit a darkened, purplish vignette, it was still clear enough to make out - the man had a rifle. Suddenly, things felt a lot more serious.
Lauren had a lapse of thought - creeping through the shadows around the back, and coming up from behind the man. As he emerged, senses reintegrating with his body, something was... different. His arms were free, and seemed to be... stuffed? His legs, as well, and his nightgown was gone, revealing his patch-covered body in its entirety. Of course.. there wasn't much time to worry about that, at the moment, as he lunged forwards, grabbing for the man, his rifle - anything, trying to hold him back, stop him doing anything drastic...
Lauren's arms seemed to now hold a significant amount of power, and his hold obviously knocked the breath from the man.. however, he was still his light, thin, bony self - and seemed even lighter now that his limbs had taken such new properties. With no idea how to actually restrain someone, he quickly found himself flipped effortlessly off the man's back, leaving him on the ground with a rifle pointed his way. He squeaked fearfully.. that wasn't well thought out..