Chapter XI: The Real Fighting Begins.
The four shadows were now within range and loomed over Jackson and his friends. A chill came with them, which rippled around the party, numbing fingers and stinging noses.
"Alright, these guys aren't too strong but there are four of them, so we'll have to be careful." Ray began.
"Nahh, I got this!" Alex shouted, and ran at the creatures. He pulled his yo-yo out of his pocket and set it loose from his hand. It ran back up the string and glass shattered out, falling into a triangle on the floor as he caught it. "PERSONA!" He called out, as Proteus was formed behind him.
"No, Alex wait!" Ray shouted, but it was too late.
Alex drove a knife into one of the shadows, which recoiled and let out a loud shriek. His persona pulled up its mighty mini-gun and shot out a torrent of ice. The wounded shadow shook Alex loose, and he fell back onto his side.
"Damn" He spat, as he hit the ground. The ice from Proteus' attack collided with the shadow, but the enemy seemed to absorb the ice into itself, and the wound Alex had made faded away.
"God damn it Alex!" Sam shouted.
"What just happened?" Jackson asked, with a shocked look on his face.
"You idiot, these shadows absorb ice attacks! It makes them stronger, so don't use it!" Ray scolded Alex.
"I didn't know that!" Alex replied, as he got back to his feet.
"Look out!" Sam shouted. One of the shadows had swooped in to attack Alex as he was getting up. Jackson jumped in front of the shadow and was knocked back, as it's huge pointed beak-like mask collided with his spear.
"Thanks" Alex said shyly. Another of the shadows made a move to attack Sam, but she was too quick, and darted out of the way, leaving it to smash into the floor beside her.
"Get your act together guys!" Ray shouted from behind. "Jackson, you don't want to get hit by one of these shadows! If it uses an ice attack, you're screwed. Alex is strong against ice!"
"I'm not just gonna let my friend get hurt!" Jackson called back, as Alex blocked another attack.
Ray ignored him. "The shadows need to regroup, so now's your chance!" He said, "Use your persona to hit them with a fire attack!"
Jackson took out his stopwatch and pushed the button, creating another shroud of broken glass, which fell into a star beneath his feet. "Odysseus!" He shouted. His persona appeared behind him, and began to dart into action.
"Use Maragi!" Ray said, "It'll hit all four of them!"
"Maragi!" Jackson called. Odysseus swung his sword forward, and the four shadows were engulfed in a huge cloud of thick red flames. All four disappeared, leaving behind small patches of black smoke.
They all sighed in relief.
"..That was intense." Jackson panted.
"You were awesome!" Alex said.
"You were lucky." Ray corrected, "If I hadn't given you that ring, Jackson, your attack may not have been strong enough and we'd still be fighting them."
"Don't give him a hard time." Sam said, "He went out of his way to help Alex."
"That's true." Ray admitted, "In that case, the shadow only used a physical attack, so you were ok. But if it used an ice attack, you would have been better to let Alex take the blow. You have to remember that you all fight as a team. You have to weigh the situation and work out who's best to do what when."
"Yeah, I suppose." Jackson said.
"Don't worry about it. Let's try again. But this time, don't go running in without thinking. I'll help you guys fight them effectively." Ray said.
"Ok." Alex said. "I'll try and focus this time."
"Honestly, it's a miracle you've all lasted this long." Ray said under his breath, as they set out to find another set of monsters to test their strengths on.
"So all shadows have a weakness?" Jackson asked.
"Most." Ray said. "But they also mostly have a strength. Sometimes your attacks simply won't work on them."
"Like that time when we went to save Alex and your persona's fire attack did nothing to that one shadow." Sam said to Jackson.
"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Jackson said.
"That shadow will have been really strong against fire, then." Ray explained, "Its likely that it was weak to ice attacks, so in that situation, you'd get Alex to exploit that."
"I get it." Jackson said.
"But don't forget that, like the shadows, your personas all have their own strengths and weaknesses." Ray said.
"Yeah, we found that out already." Alex laughed awkwardly.
"Alright. Well, now hopefully you'll be able to use this knowledge in battle." Ray said.
"What was that Maragi thing you told me to do, by the way?" Jackson asked.
"Ahh, yes." Ray began, "the different types of attack all have names. Agi is the name given to fire based attacks. Ice attacks are also called Bufu attacks. Wind are called Garu, and for lightening it's Zio. Your persona will just fight as it sees best if you don't command it. But you can make it use stronger and more strategic moves, if you tell it to. Maragi is a fire attack that hits all foes in range. There are more powerful Agi attacks, but your persona probably doesn't know them yet."
"That's like when we used that fusion attack." Alex said.
"Oh yeah." Jackson recalled. "Its funny, we just knew how to do that instinctively without being taught."
"That's the effect of your persona." Ray said. " You'll subconsciously learn its moves as you fight with it more and more. There are other moves and attack types to learn, too, but for now we'll focus on the ones you know."
They turned a corner on their search for more foes, and stumbled across two large shadows. One looked a lot like the 'regretful book' that Jackson and Sam had encountered in their previous trip to the shadows' world. The other was another black frosty raven with a light blue mask, which was called a 'europa eagle'.
"Alright guys, get ready!" Ray shouted. "And pay attention this time." They all gathered into their attack formation, and stood ready.
"Ok the eagle is the same as before, so Jackson, that's one for you!" Ray commanded.
"Got it!" Jackson said, and summoned his persona, "Agi!" He called out. Odysseus set the shadow ablaze, and it fell to the floor on its back.
"Now you have a chance to attack again before they recover!" Ray said.
"Let me do this!" Sam said, and she ran at the downed shadow, lodging her axe into its chest with all the force that she could muster. It disappeared upon impact.
The other shadow lifted its front tentacles and set a burst of flames in Jackson's direction. The attack had no effect, and although Jackson was cowering behind his arm, the flames rippled around him and disappeared, leaving him unscathed.
"I'm not hurt!" Jackson said with glee.
"Ok, it's weak to ice!" Ray said, "Alex-"
"I'm way ahead of you!" Alex interrupted, and summoned Proteus once more, "Alright buddy, this time we'll have 'em! Bufu!" He shouted.
Proteus perked up and fired his ice attack directly at the shadow, which fell to the floor with a shrill cry.
"Everybody, now that it's down you can finish it off before it gets back up!" Ray said.
"Lets do this!" Jackson suggested, and the three ran at the fallen shadow and hacked and slashed at it until it, too, imploded into black smoke clouds.
They were relieved to have emerged victorious once more.
"Alright, that was much better." Ray said, "See how much easier it is when you all work as a team?"
"Yeah, that was cool!" Alex said, "We smoked those clowns."
"It did feel a lot more controlled then any of the other battles we've been in." Sam said.
"Yeah." Jackson said.
"Do you want to keep going, or should we call it a day there?" Ray asked.
"I'm shattered." Sam admitted.
"I'm beginning to get tired, too." Jackson agreed.
"I can keep going!" Alex said excitedly, "C'mon lets go find some more!"
"Remember that you have that ring, Alex." Ray said, "Summoning your persona is less tiring for you. Plus, Sam has never summoned a persona, so she'll tire out a lot faster in this world. If Sam and Jackson are getting worn out then it's better to go home and regroup. You've all learned a lot today, and there's no need to push yourselves too hard before you're used to fighting shadows here."
"Fine, we'll go back." Alex relented.
"Don't worry, you'll get plenty of chances to grow in strength." Ray said, "We're only just starting to delve into the powers you and your personas posses."
With that, he took back the weapons and equipment, put them back in his bag, and pulled out the radio once again. As he turned the dial, that world quickly began to fade back into the one they knew, and life returned to the people of Falcon City.
Ray headed straight back to the apartment, but the others sat at a nearby café and talked about their adventure. After a while, Alex left Jackson and Sam, and they sat and talked until the evening, when they both retired to the apartments together.