"Cloud VS Joker"
Cloud glared down The Assassin, who had just backflipped down from atop the stairs.
The Assassin just smirked at him, arrogantly, as if he knew he had the upper hand.
They both stared each other down and circled each other, waiting for their chance (their turn) to attack...
...There was a tense silence.
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And Cloud charged in!
Cloud rushed in suddenly to try slashing at Joker, only to find his sword blocked and repelled each time he tried.
Joker, seeing his chance, immediately quickdrew his gun and shot rapidly back at Cloud.
But, to no avail, as Cloud easily blocked and tanked the shots with his sword.
Seeing his physical attacks not working, Cloud decided to change up his approach, and channel some of his magical energy through his Materia.
Backing up, Cloud cast his spells.
"Thundaga!"
And at once, thunder and lightening rained down all over, striking all about the battlefield ferociously!
Joker responded quickly, jumping back to evade his spell, and in an instant, the shadow behind Joker instantly changed.
"Thor!"
With the switch in his Persona, the fierce elemental assault was quickly nullified.
And for an instant, Cloud could've he saw the vague outline of an intimidating helmeted Giant in a ridiculous yellow Spandex.
'Must be seeing things...' Cloud thought, shaking his head and re-focusing on the fight.
Seeing Cloud's brief moment of hesitation, Joker smirked.
"Thunder, huh?"
"...?"
Cloud didn't know what the Assassin was getting at, but for some reason, he had a bad feeling.
Guarding, he put his sword in front of himself, switch into a defensive position, to block Joker's next attack.
"Garudyne!"
And in the next instant, Cloud was immediately knocked right off his feet! And sent plummeting down the flight of stairs!
'What...?!'
A gust of that level, strong as it was, shouldn't have been nearly enough to send Cloud off his feet.
But for some reason, it had. And now Cloud was struggling even to get up, even though normally he would be up an instance.
But now, it was the most he could do to struggle to get up as he kneeled on one knee, hands gripping the handle of his Buster Sword, imbedded in the cement pavement of the ground.
'Shit! Did he imbued the wind with some sort of poison or paralyzing drug, or something?!'
That would be a trick befitting of an Assassin, in any case.
But rather than finish him right then and there, Joker rushed in only to stop and point a gun at his head.
Joker smirked.
"This is a hold-up." He said, confidently. As if he was used to doing this many, many times.
Cloud grit his teeth. 'Bastard's mocking me!'
Vaguely, off the sides of his head, which he could still slightly move, Cloud could've sworn that he saw the outlines of what must've been Joker's allies.
Even though he couldn't move his head much, he could still somehow feel their presence, and make out their figures with his mind's eye.
Some youthful thug with blonde hair and a Skull mask, a whip-wearing young lady in a tight-fitting Panther Suit, and a...weird...mini-human-cat thingy...with a Scimitar?
"It's Showtime!" Joker declared.
And in that instant, all of Joker's allies charged in and bum-rushed him, too quickly for Cloud to respond, even if he hadn't been paralyzed.
As Joker's all-out attack finished, Joker pulled down his glove. And Cloud started bleeding out of him from every direction.
...Or so he had thought, but when he blinked, he was perfectly fine (if slightly bruised all over).
Rather, he felt much more exhausted and unmotivated to fight, all of a sudden.
Joker, meanwhile, had jumped a distance away, cocky grin still on his face.
'A mental attack? No, an attack on the heart?'
Cloud shook his head. It didn't matter. All he knew was that he had to take down Assassin soon.
Seeing that his Thunder hadn't work, Cloud decided to switch up his approach.
"Aeroga!"
"High Pixie!"
Joker nullified the magical wind attack, but that was exactly what Cloud had been expecting, and in the moment that Joker was busy switching, Cloud had rushed and dealt a swift series of slashes to Joker, cumulating with a sudden Piercing Thrust.
This time, Cloud had been the one to take Joker by surprise and stagger him, laying into Joker with a fast and heavy flurry of sword-strikes.
"Guh!"
Once Joker recovered, he jumped back in pain, clearly affected.
But Cloud rushed in again, his limits about to be break and be surpassed. Dealing another few blows, he finally topped it all off with one last Cross-Slash across Joker's Chest and sent him flying back onto the stairs of the shrine temple.
Joker, though very heavily wounded, still managed to endure. And again, he back-flipped very stylishly. This time, on to the very top of the stairs, right before the temple.
'Well, he's a tough bastard, I'll give him that,' Cloud begrudgingly acknowledged, 'But he won't be able to last now! This next blow will finish him off!'
Joker, though, just smirked at him again from up high.
Pulling out an elixir, Joker gulped it down all in one go, his wounds immediately closing up and magical energy flooding back into him. Even Joker looked a little surprised at the potency of its effects.
'Healing up, huh? Well, two can play at that game!' Cloud reached down to his bag, to rummage through his consumable items for a high-potion or an ether.
...But they weren't there.
Cloud checked again...
...Still not there.
"Shit! Don't tell me! Back then...!"
That's right. When Joker had attacked with his entourage of phantom-like thief friends, during that all-out attack!
"Shit!"
Cloud grit his teeth in frustration.
Joker's cocky smirk only widened as he saw Cloud's expression.
Cloud started reconsidering his options - he could keep on fighting, but he was a Pure Swordsman, unlike Assassin, who was clearly more of a Trickster-type of character. The kind who always with something hidden up his sleeves.
It wouldn't do to keep on pursuing Joker.
His Master, Emiya Shirou could only provide him with so much mana to support his existence in this world. He couldn't afford to drag the battle out, especially not now that Joker had his entire stash of consumables.
Trying to keep on fighting would just be a pointless uphill struggle. Wisely, Cloud made the decision to strategically retreat and flee for now.
"I'll be back!" He called out.
And next time, he'd come back with the steal Materia, to repay the thief with twice what he had stolen.
Joker just watched with an amused expression, but once Cloud was out of sight, he let out a brief sigh and his magician-like outfit burst into a flash of blue flames, vanishing into the darkness of the night.
That had been an expectedly tough fight, and it had left him surprisingly exhausted. Mentally, at least, if not physically.
Shifting back into his student uniform, he headed back into the temple, greeted Issei, his ignorant Master, and headed back for his bedroom in the temple, preparing to sleep.
"I guess it's time to call it a day."
The battle had been short, but fierce, battle. And he normally didn't take so much damage, either, but unlike the Saber that he had just encounter today, Shadows didn't move during Persona switches, or attack multiple times in one go and finish things off with a Climax Attack, either.
Pulling out his dairy, Joker thought to himself that he'd definitely have to make a note of that.
Resting on his bed, he collapsed on to it and slept soundly.
"Cloud VS Joker" END
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So, I included a lot of references here. Can you spot them all? (Some are more subtle than other.) Make a game of it, and leave your comments below, lol.
I actually didn't mean for it turn out as more action RPG towards the second half of the battle, but it came out that way in the first draft, and I liked it (A good reference to both games now having Action JRPG games in their series (FF7 to FF7 Remake, Persona 5 to Persona 5 Strikers).
(Incidentally, Shadows also don't move during Persona changes even in Persona 5 Strikers, so that's one reference for you there already! lmao)
Anyways, let the reference-hunting game begin!