Chapter 17: The True Shadow
I enter the first room, which is actually a long, sleek metallic hallway that is lit up by some florescent light bulbs behind the glass panels on the ceiling. There is a foggy yellow tint across the room radiating from the glow of the lights, and it reminds me of what the original 'Midnight Channel' looked like. The black pillars in the corners that look like the ones you'd find in a movie studio really helped the comparison I made in my mind, and the new props do nothing to contradict the technological theme of the temple. "You know, considering the Elemental Overlord probably made this place the way it is, I got to wonder why he didn't share his technological know-how with the people of the planet?"
My immediate answer was "Probably not in his jurisdiction to do so", but that was only a guess and not a definitive answer so I didn't decide to think about it anymore for the time being. "Now if I recall, the last time I was here a voice blared out because of…" I folded my arms and scrunched my facial features up for a moment, struggling to remember what tripped the alarm before I went out and caused it to go off again. "Argh…What was it again." In the rush of the moment I failed to pay enough attention to what was said. Ironically, Gemini was the one who figured out the truth at the time, and now I feel like an idiot for not thinking that such information would come in handy again someday.
"It had something to do with movement, but what was the sensor?" After scrounging up the only clue I could recall, I looked around the room. It was rather eerie, with the silence and the foggy expanse leading to the end of the hall, but so long as I was the only one around this slightly unhinged feeling in my gut won't move past the level it is at now. "Oh!" As I thought about the possibility of someone else's presence, I realized that there was only one other visible thing in this room besides the walls. I looked up towards the light bulbs, and pardon the pun, it sparked a memory deep down inside of my mind.
That's right, the lights detected motion down below. The solution to this was simple. With a snap of the fingers I spawned a thick, miniature cloud from thin air, and with a wave of the hand around the circumference the size of it increases as I add more mass to it. Once my job is done I wrap my scythe backwards in the grasp of my closed armpit and put both hands beside the cloud, grabbing it in the force between both palms and pushing my hands outward to create a light wind current that'll slowly guide the cloud to just right below the first light. It arrived there in ten seconds, and the light was cut off with ease. No alarm went off, so the sensor only detects organic material.
It would be a lengthy process to deal with each light like this, but its better than tripping whatever new trap Mr. Reality would probably have set up for me. I start moving forward, ready to make another cloud with my hands held outward in the same position, but then without warning the lights in the room turn a dark shade of red and the corridors become filled with the echoing screams of a blaring siren. My focus is broken on the cloud as I squinch my eyes and clench my hands into the shape of fists for a brief second before tilting my head towards the ceiling as a familiar voice yells out "YOU ARE INTRUDING ON REALITY'S DOMAIN. LEAVE NOW OR BE ELECTROCUTED!"
It was a shorter message than the previous one, and it didn't surprise me so much as annoy me for having to listen to the alien's voice once again. Either way, now wasn't the time to worry, and with a snap of the fingers I draw the cloud away into my body and lifted myself slightly into the air. I create a massive current of wind through the doorway behind me while it is still opened, and get a head start through the air at high-speeds until a giant steel door comes down and blocks off what I had summoned. Still, I got halfway through during this time, but as I quickly turned my head over my shoulder I noticed something was off about the new door.
There were twenty rounded points arranged in a honeycomb-like pattern, all of them surging together with electricity that was all pointed my way. Not like was that hard considering the circumstances, but nonetheless I needed to make it to the end quickly or I was done for. The end neared my body as I could hear the sparks increasing in intensity. "Crap crap crap!" I repeated the word in panic as I saw the fog dispersing on ahead and giving a visible view of the next room. There was no time to fully describe its cube-like form as the caps fire a stream of electricity each at double the speed I was moving at. I swung my body off to the side, pinning myself to the wall with my arms outstretched and my weapon hanging vertically as the streams pass by me only a few seconds later.
My heart is beating rapidly as my widened eyes are nearly glazed by my cold sweat, but I'm alive. As the electricity moves on ahead towards the door at the end of the room, I take a look at the bridge and move myself away from the wall, landing on the curved quarter of a platform below me and moving towards the other side, but then I looked on and watch as more sirens went off and a circular mirror panel came down from the doorway, a pole sticking out below that stuck to the floor and kept it in place. I knew what was coming, so it was no surprise when the mirror panel spun around and swatted the lightning streams mid-flight, scattering them all in different directions across the room as a normal steel panel with a glowing yellow "20" appeared on it.
Obviously the sudden shift to a new puzzle was to keep with the theme of being "lightning-fast", and so of course I didn't have too much time to think as one lightning stream ricocheted off the ceiling and headed my way. I dodged by somersaulting forward under it just in the nick of time. "Shoot, what do I do here…" I asked myself as I got on my feet and dashed forward, ducking and alternating my head left and right to see if there is any tips on what to do. The number could mean anything. It could mean the amount of minutes I'd have to dodge the lightning streams for, a counter for the amount I had to destroy, or some third thing I had no real way of discerning.
When the walls didn't provide an answer, I turned to the floor, but not before leaping off the side of the bridge and sustaining flight to get away from three bolts that would've struck me had I not done this. There were some rounded sockets all spread out across the ground, the black center leading to an unknown location but their purpose clear as day. I had to get the lightning streams into each one to deactivate the lock on the door. At least at that point it was easy to work out a solution in my head. Where as with the guardian I had to deprive him of the clouds he used to create lightning, now I would create clouds to trap the lightning and guide them to their proper locations.
I swung the weight of my body to the right as the hairs on the back of my neck pricked up, using the wind to press my poncho against my body so as to not get burned. I then flung my right arm out, quickly summoning a cloud in front of the lightning's path so it gets absorbed and turns the cloud grey and the crackling of thunder starts to echo within. I figured I'd fill as many clouds as I possibly could, and THEN launch the lightning out into the sockets. After all, don't want to get fried because I was distracted with something else.
I spin my body around, creating a ring of clouds around me through my extended arms that successfully absorbs five lightning bolts that happened to be nearby. Not wanting to be hit with the static exuding from the clouds, I rose away from the center and then flung my scythe into the air, removing the conductor from my body as I looked down and saw a lightning stream ricocheting towards me from the bottom left corner of the room. I could also feel two lightning streams approaching me from the left and right. I had no way of creating a cloud with my feet, so while I held my arms out to creating clouds to absorb the lightning streams beside me, I stuck my feet out so the slick wood sandals would reflect the lightning away.
I was looking at twelve lightning streams remaining now, and things were getting easier to manage even if this wouldn't stop the adrenaline that was continuing to pump through my body to keep me going. "Come on, where are the next ones…" I thought to myself as I shifted my eyes around and kept myself at the ready. I held my arms out diagonally and created two clouds, waiting with anticipation for the next lightning streams to enter my line of sight. It was odd that none were showing up, especially with the speeds that they were moving at, but then I noticed what was up.
I was so focused on the environment that everything seemed slower than it actually was, and I was able to perceive which way the bolts were going far before they even went there. "I guess I don't really need my powers to keep an eye on those…" I noted to myself before I grinned and flung two clouds out, proving my observation right as the way I set them allowed them to absorb the lightning streams with absolute ease. "Halfway there, come on then!" I widened my eyes and turned my body around as I felt the static of a lightning stream pricking my hairs once more. I clapped my hands together, summoning a cloud and a wind current that carries it along fast enough for the lightning stream to be captured.
"Nine…" I decided to start counting down to the final one, throwing my arms out beside me and catching my scythe in the grasp of my right hand as it finally falls. I spin it around, building up momentum as I gracefully swerve it away from the lightning streams and alternate the grasp to the left hand before flinging it out like a vertical discus towards the left wall. My plan is to draw it back to me, but for now I had to deal with four lightning streams that were coming my way, one of which passed beside the scythe on the way towards me. I held pounded the air with my palms in all four directions, quickly drawing forth clouds that absorb the lightning as I descend through the numbers one at a time.
Once again surrounded by the storm clouds, I flew even higher until I was but mere inches away from the ceiling. "Five left, where are they…" I turned my head around, scanning the area below in search of the remaining streams, and just my luck that they would all come at me simultaneously. They were like points of light reflecting off of mirrors, so when they came my way they would hit the ceiling and spread out in an arc. That gave me the best chance to deal with the rest all at once, so I flew back and bit and turned my body upside-down, lifting my head upward slightly and pressing my feet against the ceiling to launch off of it and dive downward towards the bridge.
Just as expected, the lightning bolts hit the ceiling and bounce back in five different directions. Before they spread out too far though I spin around and hold my arms out as wide as I can, my poncho flowing outward from my body as I create an arched row of clouds that I launch out, causing them to quickly absorb the remaining streams and suspend themselves in mid-air within an instant. I move my feet so I can land on the ground, and with twenty electricity charged clouds at the ready I begin to back up towards the rotating panel and wave my arms around to position the clouds above each and every socket.
The purpose of me being close to the panel was in case there was a time limit to get to it after solving the puzzle, in which case I wouldn't want to fail reaching this and have to do it all over again. "Steady, steady…" I say repeatedly as I keep my placements precise. Then comes the snap of the fingers, which causes twenty monstrous thunderclaps to ring through my eardrums as the lightning streams fly straight out through the bottom of the clouds and head towards the sockets with no difficulty. They poke through the holes simultaneously, and I hear a click from each socket as they are sealed up by a sliding cover.
Before I forget, I hold my right hand out, calling my scythe back from the wall that the blade got stuck in as the numbers go down one click at a time behind me. Once the handle is grasped in my hand, the panel flips my body around into the next room, which is actually a round, yellow elevator that'll carry me to the next floor. It activates on its own, rising upward as g-force makes my body feel as if it is being pressed down for a brief moment before the feeling returns to normal. At the pace it is going at it takes only a minute for the elevator to reach the top, and with my memories I am able to leap out of it the moment it starts to shake and then proceeds to collapse down the nearly infinite chasm.
"Man I miss the voice that called to us on the elevator…Whoever it was, they sounded cute." A brief moment spent in fantasy offered me some relief from the high-speed antics of the previous room, but I had to keep moving while the day was still young. "I also wish I had a watch right about now." Checking the time right now wasn't really the most important thing in the world for me, but it would be nice to know how long I had been out for. "Guess it would be pretty selfish of me to worry about my appetite at a time like this." I then said as I moved down the passageway and headed towards what should be the final obstacle in this temple before the inner guardian. I reach it in a matter of seconds, a bundled, spherical mass of electricity blocking the way through as it did before. This time however, there wasn't a lever that would shut the electricity down.
"What the heck? How does he expect me to solve this puzzle without a shut off button or lever?" I inquired to myself out loud, while at the same time working towards an alternate solution in my head. But after a few seconds I noticed the sphere getting smaller, the electricity being drawn away in separate streams from the other side. "Huh?" By the time the sphere had become miniscule, I moved my hand away from my chin and dashed towards the other side of the hall. Emerging outside onto a square made up entirely of black and white metal tiles, I notice that instead of the usual sky I see that the yellow, ghoulish fog has covered the area.
The atmosphere wasn't important though, what is is the source behind the electric sphere's disappearance, so I lifted my head up slowly and…Immediately widened my eyes in utter shock. It was Gemini, the yellow-shelled Koopa with a mechanical right arm, an undamaged scarf wrapped around his left arm, a scarred, left purple eye and a normal yellow eye. He was panting heavily, but his held-out right arm was crackling with the bits of electricity he had absorbed from the sphere. This was the real deal, not the "Shadow" that I was expecting to see. Which begged the question, "Gemini? H-How did you…"
"Be…Careful…That alien…Merely separated me…from…" Falling onto his knees before he could finish his sentence, Gemini slows his breathing down and then lays his body flat against the ground. I run over to him and kneel down, lifting his left arm up and laying my fingers below the palm to check for his pulse. There is still a steady beat coming from it, so he is alive, but the fact that he collapsed in such a way nearly caused me to panic. He was about to say something though, and it was easy to see what it was. I cautiously lifted my body up, and left my ally behind to go on ahead and see who lurked beyond the fog.
It was no surprise as to who it was. Standing with a dark, ghoulish violet-blue aura around their body was Gemini's "Shadow", who glared at me blankly with his yellow eyes while his body remained motionless. "What the hell is going on where?" I cautiously murmured as I wondered why now of all times that the "Shadow" was separated from the physical body. As if to answer my curiosity, a holographic screen appeared in the air behind Gemini's "Shadow", and Mr. Reality made his presence known on it. "About time you arrived." Was the first thing he said, his tone dripping with boredom. "What did you do to Gemini?!"
The alien waved his hand up beside his helmet, saying to me "I did nothing to him. He was the one who so deeply strained himself by denying his true self." "But it was your actions that caused his physical body to separate from the 'Shadow', was it not?!" I lashed against the point he tried to make. "Of course, I had no choice in the matter. I had originally thought that if you denied the true selves of your allies, that their 'Shadows' would go berserk and you'd have a more difficult time defeating them. But I gravely miscalculated, and preemptively separated the 'Shadow' from the physical body before you arrived, and watched as he denied who he truly was. However, I froze the 'Shadow' before it could go berserk, saving him until the moment you arrived here…Now then, I think its time the spectacle began, yes?"
Mr. Reality pressed the fingers of his glove together, and in an instant he snapped them. The 'Shadow' began to move again, reeling its head back suddenly as its eyes widen in frenzy and his mouth opens up as he begins to laugh maniacally in Gemini's tone of voice. "Hahaha! You foolish Koopa, I am you, and there is no way for you to deny me!" It didn't care that I was not the target of its malicious truth, and the aura surrounding the 'Shadow's' body added in a thick black layer with reddish dots rising out of the ground around him. Suddenly, the creature's post returned to normal as darkness draws in from all sides of his body, covering him completely until a sudden burst causes it all to disperse and knocks me right onto my butt.
All that remains afterwards is a new creature, one that represents a symbolic manifestation of Gemini's inner turmoil with his true self. There is no feet on this creature, for it has taken the form of a totem pole compromised of three segments. The bottom segment is a golden Romanesque pillar with a statue of Gemini himself struggling to keep the other two parts up with the strength of his hands and shell alone. The mid-section is made entirely out of a shiny onyx, and it depicts a demonic creature leaning through a portal with its arms held out, its eyes glistening red with bloodlust, and two gargoyle-like wings spread out from the elbows. The final segment depicts Gemini as a human with six angelic wings spread out behind his body, his lower body drowned in the waving darkness of the demon as his arms cross in front of his chest. His head is held high with silky, golden hair flowing behind him while his eyelids remain closed and his expression appears indecisive. In the palm of his held flat hands there exists two domes, one containing a miniature scale model of what I assume to be the M.S.I. HQ, and another one that has a model of what is clearly Koopa Village.
"Gemini…" Left with nothing but awe at the Shadow's overwhelming appearance, I lifted my body up off the ground and swung my scythe so the blade was pointed behind my back. "What are you trying to tell me…What are you hiding?" Those were both questions I had to ask myself, but none of them mattered when the situation was obvious. "No, I need to focus. Here I come Shadow, I hope you are ready for me!" I charged at the creature, and I could suddenly feel everything pausing around me as my vision showed everything warping inward, getting brighter with each passing second. Suddenly, everything becomes clear again, only I can hear something playing in the background.
I'll Face Myself -Reincarnation-: watch?v=N0KGRjTIa7I
The Conflicted Decider of Life and Death: Shadow Gemini
The battlefield had changed slightly. The temple was now bigger in scale, with hundreds of those barred pillars surrounding the area, each one streaming lightning to each other in rapid succession as a generator roars behind Shadow Gemini. I looked at the creature as I stayed stuck in my battle pose at a specific point in front of it. "I am a Shadow…The true self…" The Shadow said in a calm tone of voice that came from the angelic segment of its form. "Why do you oppose me? I thought that you of all people would've helped me decide where I should be…" It said to me, and as I grit my teeth at the creature I tried to reach out to it and say "Gemini! Wake up, this isn't what you are really like!"
It was to no avail though, as the Shadow calmly rejected my viewpoint and said in return "Who are you to judge who I truly am? You don't even know who you are, Overlord! But that's fine…" The beast flapped its angelic wings, thrusting wind all-around as the demonic segment raises its arms up and snarls madly at my presence. "I'll just dispose of you if you won't prove useful to my conundrum!" The Shadow was as serious as it could be, clearly angered by what I had said to it. I just looked at Gemini's Shadow in pity, saying to it before the battle began "You would dispose of me just because I can't help you? I don't even know how I can help because you are simply expecting me to know what is wrong with you right off the bat! You know, never mind, there is no getting through to you, but I'll have you know that I'm not about to be killed by a beastly Shadow who dared to take up the name of my friend!" With that final remark and a pointer finger brandished at the creature, I took up my weapon and begun the battle.
Shadow Gemini HP: 3000
Mewmaster's HP/SP: 500/240
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill
Elemental Form
I rushed at the Shadow, swing my scythe outright in an arch to cut the Gemini segment with my blade. (DMG: 67, HP: 2933)
Shadow Gemini casts "Zionga". A lightning bolt rips open the skies and crashed down upon me. (DMG: 45 *Critical* *One-Time Nullification Activated, Down Status Averted*, HP: 455)
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill - "Cyclone Rush" (SP Cost: 27, SP: 213)
Elemental Form
I charge up wind in my scythe, folding it as far back behind my body as I possibly can before flinging it outward like a boomerang. The weapon unleashed the wind built up as it curve around the Shadow's body, spinning around in a spiral until a torrent of wind is created and the weapon begins repeatedly cutting at the creature's skin. When it is done, it flips above the head and returns into the grasp of my right hand. The creature then flinches, its arms lowering as the wings fold into the body. (DMG: 286 *Weakness Critical*, HP: 2647)
I note the momentary weakness in my opponent and decide to take advantage of it to launch another attack. With my spirit flaring up within, I grin happily and swing my left arm below my chin as I hold my weapon steadily beside me. After making this pose I charge straight at the Shadow, which quickly gets engulfed in a cloud of dust as I tear into it with a barrage of attacks from my scythe. Eventually, the Shadow regains its stamina and swats me away, but not before the damage has been done. (All-Out Attack DMG: 145, HP: 2502)
Shadow Gemini casts "Heaven's Blade". After a glimmer from the angelic segment's right eye, a rift opens up in the sky above me, and from it descends a blade so magnificent and holy that I am barely able to look into it as it crashes down upon me and explodes in a burst of angelic light. I flinch from the damage taken. (DMG: 124, HP: 331)
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill - "X-Dance" (SP Cost: 35, SP: 178)
Elemental Form
I stamped my scythe into the ground and crossed my arms in front of me while snapping my fingers. Two streams of wind cross under the Shadow's body, leaving him in the center of an "X". Next I pick my weapon up and raise it above my body, getting on one foot and using the wind to twirl myself around rapidly until I gather up enough energy to send the wind out in the form of multiple tornadoes, each one magnetizing to the streams of wind I had set up previously and colliding straight into the Shadow's body. Each hit does a different amount of damage, hitting six times in total. (DMG: 45+47+46+45+43+41= 267 *Weakness Critical*, HP: 2235)
Once again, while the creature is weakened, I launch another assault on it. (All-Out Attack DMG: 145, HP: 2090)
When the Shadow gets back up again, this time it calls out to me, "How could you…How could you do this to me?! I-I just want to know where I belong!" In an overly concerned tone of voice. It then cast "Ziodyne" on me. The lightning bolt that comes out this time rips through the sky as if it were paper, shrouding the air with an eardrum tearing noise before it strikes me full force. Weakened by the attack, I fall on my butt once more, feeling dazed as a light yellow veil surrounds my body. (DMG: 210, HP: 121)
With an opportunity to attack me given, Shadow Gemini instead raises all of its arms high into the air, a red circle appearing below its body that flashes a quick veil around it. ("Heat Riser" Buffed: Attack, Defense, Agility. Effective: Three Turns)
With my next turn having now come, I weakly raise myself onto my feet and lumber about as I can feel my body trying its hardest to stay together. "Darn it…Not yet!" I say to keep myself going.
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill
Elemental Form
Sensing that the Shadow was about to launch a super powered attack to finish me off, I raise my scythe and keep my stance firm in hopes that I can survive it with my guard up.
Shadow Gemini casts "Voltage Arts: Nine Sparks Pinwheel". This familiar attack begins with a lightning bolt coming straight out of the bottom segment's forehead and piercing through my guard in the chest area. This wasn't a guard piercer, but merely the start of the attack. I am then surrounded in eight directions by miniature lightning balls, which contort into the form of spears that point themselves my way and thrust themselves into my body all at once. The impact of all eight lightning bolts creates a massive electric explosion that makes a loud sounding crackling noise, which is promptly followed up by a piercing ringing noise as the explosion shrinks down to the size of a sand grain, and then becomes a simple electric line that vanishes into nothing but dust particles. I take a lot of damage from the attack, but just have enough health to survive. (DMG: 114, HP: 7 *Peril State*)
Thankfully, I knew of one way to survive, especially since I didn't have any items on me to heal with…
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill
Elemental Form - Jungle Whipper
With a pull of the green trigger, I change into my Nature form, which I really don't want to describe to you all over again. My HP is restored back to full, but my SP remains the same as it did after I launched my last "Skill".
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill - "Seed Gunner" (SP Cost: 12, SP: 166)
Elemental Form
I can attacked immediately after changing, and I cock my whip in front of my face like a gun. Each segment pulls out and launched a seed through the air at Shadow Gemini. Each one impacts with his body and detonates, dealing a hefty amount of damage per shot and making him lower his body in weakness. (DMG: 58+57+60+61+57= 296 *Weakness Critical*, HP: 1794)
I perform another assault after that for more damage. (All-Out Attack DMG: 187, HP: 1607)
Shadow Gemini gets back up and casts "Makajam". For the time being, I am silenced and can't use any of my skills. (Two Turns Left on "Heat Riser" buff)
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill
Elemental Form
I rush at Shadow Gemini and whip him three times, finishing with an uppercut with my weapon that strikes at a vulnerable part of his body. (DMG: 157 *Damage Critical*, HP: 1450) This causes him to fall down and be vulnerable to another assault from me. (All-Out Attack DMG: 187, HP: 1263)
When the Shadow gets back up, its wings start flapping at a slower pace as it creaks its eyelids open slightly and says to me "You are testing my patience Overlord! What will it take for you to get me?!" It then casts "Elec Break", removing my form's resistance to electricity for three turns. (One Turn Left on "Heat Riser" buff)
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill
Elemental Form
I attack with my whip again. (DMG: 74, HP: 1189)
Shadow Gemini casts "Thunder Reign". From the sky above me emerges a dome of electricity, which pours hundreds upon hundreds of volts into my body continuously for ten seconds before it all collides together in the centerpoint between my body and the dome, collapsing into an electrical orb that explodes and strikes me full force. (DMG: 286, HP: 212) ("Heat Riser" Buff Gone)
Blame the squishiness of my form for that amount of damage, but it didn't change the fact that without skills and items I was a sitting duck. I guess I had no choice really…
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill
Elemental Form - "Wind Reaper"
A change back to the previous form didn't heal me, but it did remove the status ailment from my body. Now I could attack again, but I only had a couple chances before I'd have to change to my only other form.
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill - "Cyclone Rush" (SP Cost: 27, SP: 139)
Elemental Form
I charge up wind in my scythe, folding it as far back behind my body as I possibly can before flinging it outward like a boomerang. The weapon unleashed the wind built up as it curve around the Shadow's body, spinning around in a spiral until a torrent of wind is created and the weapon begins repeatedly cutting at the creature's skin. When it is done, it flips above the head and returns into the grasp of my right hand. The creature falls once more. (DMG: 307 *Weakness Critical*, HP: 882)
I then follow up with another assault. (DMG: 145, HP: 737)
When Shadow Gemini gets up, most of its body is leaning forward, barely able to keep itself balanced as the angelic segment's eyes open, completely black with fury as it glares into the depths of my soul and says "I…I…I've had enough! I've decided on one thing…I'VE DECIDED ON YOUR OBLITERATION!"
Shadow Gemini casts "Heaven's Blade", which hits me really, really hard. (DMG: 210, HP: 2 *Peril State*).
"Haha…Haha…" I wasn't going down yet.
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill - "Eye of the Storm" (SP Cost: 50, SP: 89)
Elemental Form
With a clap of the hands, a violent array of clouds forms overhead as equally violent turbulent winds blow through the air straight at Shadow Gemini. A hurricane is formed on the battlefield, and in an instant my visage disappears from my opponent's point of view. I had risen up, positioning myself over the "eye" that was centered above my opponent. Plunging through it at great speeds, I took my scythe and performed a clean, vertical strike right through Shadow Gemini's body. The wind and clouds are sucked in to the body all at once via a powerful vacuum creating by my slash, and once it burst inside of the Shadow's body I leap back to my original position. (DMG: 374 *Weakness Critical*, HP: 363)
Though it is down, I don't attack him again, since then he would finish me off with no trouble at all.
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill
Elemental Form - "Water Sage"
With the switch to my water form, my HP is healed, but I've now gained a weakness to electricity. I had to end this quickly now.
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill - "Banish Serpent" (SP Cost: 35, SP: 54)
Elemental Form
I kneeled down and lash my trident against the ground, creating a puddle that I use as a focus point as I pull my body up and draw a long, squiggling serpent of water from within. When I pull the trident away in full force, the beast flies high into the sky, cutting itself off from the puddle with a tail before it arches its body towards the weakened Shadow Gemini and dive bombs it with the velocity of a bat descending after its prey. It strikes the creature, exploding in a burst of water that all splatters against the ground. (DMG: 101, HP: 262)
Shadow Gemini gets back up and casts "Thunder Reign" on me. (DMG: 214 *Critical* *One-Time Nullification Activated, Down Status Averted*, HP: 286)
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill - "Banish Serpent" (SP Cost: 35, SP: 19)
Elemental Form
My previous attack is used again. (DMG: 114, HP: 148).
Shadow Gemini uses "Makajam" to silence me, obviously so I can't use another skill to finish him off and assuring his victory next turn. I can't keep guarding, so I could only hope to get a critical with my final attack.
Analysis
Tactics
Guard
Attack
Skill
Elemental Form
I pulled my trident behind me, focusing as hard as I can on my target. I looked over his weakened body, looking at his bottom segment in particular and noticing the weakness down there. I could feel it. This last attack would do it. I charged in, slashing once while spinning my body around, lashing a wave of water against the bottom segment before holding my weapon out with levitation and spinning it around wildly so it grinds against the center of Shadow Gemini's bottom section. After the damage is done I reel my arm back and backflip away. (DMG: 178 *Damage Critical, HP: 0)
Shadow Gemini's body rises up suddenly in pain, screaming out at the top of his lungs as the demon in the center screeches. After a few seconds of pain the wings wilt and dry out, and the entire creature collapses on the ground below, defeated.
Result:
Exp: 1008
Money: 300 coins
Item: None
Suddenly, the environment around me turns back to normal, and Shadow Gemini is back into his normal form, only he is now laying flat against the ground with his aura dissolved. He doesn't move, mimicking his physical body's current position before it begins to disintegrate. I don't know why this is happening, but it was a good thing that it did considering that Gemini wasn't awake to accept his true self. The black dust from the Shadow returns to Gemini's body, and after turning my head to watch it vanish I hear a magical flash and looked back where the Shadow once was to find a generator standing there.
This was the thing I had to use to restore my powers along with the area, so I walked over to it. I just realized then and there that I had returned to my "Wind Reaper" form after the battle, but not like that detail matters too much without anymore enemies to fight. I walked up to the generator and jammed my scythe into a crack in the front of it. With a flash of yellow light the usual stuff happens, and I'm left back in my normal form with my yellow trigger returned back to normal and the skies having become clear once more. The generator has also vanished, but it had served its purpose anyways.
I dispel my sword and turn around, running straight at Gemini and kneeling down as I stop beside him. I turn my body and lower my arms underneath him like I did with Driad, picking him up with little effort as he shows no signs of movement. He is still alive, but must be sleeping to recover his strength. Not that I blame him, I'd fall asleep myself right now if it wasn't for the place I was at currently. This would be most inconvenient, so without uttering a word I turned towards the edge of the temple roof and ran towards it, leaping off the edge and after sustaining levitation I flew through the air back towards Toad Town, so I could get Gemini to Mario's house safe and sound…
Next Time: An Identity Conundru