Chapter IV: Persona
***After School***
Sam was already waiting at the Star's Satellite with her baseball bat when Jackson arrived. Alex clearly hadn't made it yet.
"Hi Jackson!" Sam looked happy. "Brainless isn't here yet."
"No, I can see that. I think he had a detention or something."
"What? He's been at school for like 3 days."
"Well that's three more then he needs, apparently." There was an energy about the place. It was at the centre of the city, and the area surrounding the satellite itself was busy with people. The sky was as clear as it ever was. A vibrant blue that was renewed in the windowpanes and the towering glass buildings of the city, broken apart by satellite towers. It felt as if the city had been built so that it would reflect the most amount of sunlight possible into the eyes of it's residents.
"So what are we going to do while we wait?" Sam asked.
"I'm gonna get a coffee. You want something?"
"No, but I'll come with." Sam seemed welcome of the company.
They talked over coffee for a while until Alex finally arrived. It turns out he was late because he had been in detention for being late. Jackson noted the irony.
"Alright, are we gonna do this, or what?" Sam asked. "I have things to do, sooo."
"Let's. You've all got your things right?" said Jackson, removing the music stand from his school bag.
Sam brandished her baseball bat in response.
"Err, yea" Alex feebly took his drumsticks out and put his bag with the others.
"Then let's do this!" Said Jackson, turning the dial on his radio to the correct Frequency.
There was a long pause.
"Excellent. Can we go now?" Sam asked
"Damn. I'm sure it was this frequency." Jackson looked annoyed.
"Maybe it changes all the time?" Alex asked.
"In this city, there isn't enough free space on the airwaves for that." Sam noted.
"No, there's got to be something else we're missing." Jackson paced around a bit, listening intently to the static hissing from the speaker. "Exactly what spot were we when it happened last time?"
"We were over there by that bench." Alex pointed and the group moved over towards the bench that faced the arcade.
There was a distinct chill in the air here. A lingering sense of separation from the rest of the city. Jackson hadn't taken much notice of it the other day, but right now it hung in the back of his head like a pendulum. He swallowed deeply and lifted the radio to his ear.
There was a short pause before anything happened… then a voice came. The same voice as before. It muttered something that Jackson couldn't hear.
"What is it?" Sam asked. She had noticed how the colour had faded from Jackson's skin.
"Shh, I can hear something!" Jackson had his ear pressed hard against the radio.
"I don't think anything's going to happen." Sam stated.
"Give it here, I'll try!" Alex shouted, as he grabbed onto the radio, trying to pry it from Jackson's grasp.
"What difference does it make?!" Sam asked, before grabbing the radio herself, attempting to break the three up. They were all stood holding the radio as it emitted a harsh screech.
Suddenly, The world around them stopped. The clocks stopped ticking, and the people stopped talking, walking, and breathing. The lights went dark, and the sun hid behind thick, purple storm clouds. The fog of exhaust turned black and the stench in the air rippled through their nostrils.
"Whoa!" said Jackson, a big smile on his face, "I told you it was true!"
"Nice! It's like a whole other world!" Alex was looking at the sky. Sam, however, was speechless, and stood staring at the edge of the road.
"This, this is messed up." Jackson said as the smile began slowly to shrink.
"It's cool!" Said Alex, "Right, Sam? There's no denying the rumours now!… Sam?"
Jackson and Alex turned to look at what Sam had been staring at.
At the entrance to The Star's Satellite, and its mall, was a small, dark shape, with bright red eyes. It froze them in place as they all stared into the shadows, trying to get a good look at the creature.
"Is that.. a shadow?" Alex asked.
The shape was a toxic black blob on the floor, with a mask, and two arms, which seemed to come out from under the floor.
"I think it probably is." Said Jackson, as he held his Music stand like a spear, gripping tightly to the sweat that lined it's metal frame.
Alex threw one of his drumsticks at the blob and it bounced off. This startled the shadow creature, and it began to crawl its way towards the group, by means of its two arms. It dragged itself across the floor like a demented torso and left a trail of black ooze behind it.
"Damn it Alex!" said Sam as she ran at the shadow with her bat clutched firmly at the ready.
"Sam, wait!" Jackson tried to stop her, but it was too late. She swung the bat down at the creature's head, and it splattered over the pavement.
"Critical hit!" she shouted at the top of her voice.
Jackson and Alex would have celebrated with her too, but they found themselves surrounded my shadows that seemed to appear out of the walls, or the floor, or the dense fog.
"Holy shi-" Sam began, but her voice left her in fear before it could complete its sentence.
"This is not good." Said Jackson. His knees began to shake, and he felt an uneasy sense of weakness. There was a sharp pain in his head, and he fell to his knees, loosing consciousness.
When he woke, he was in a place he had never been before. All that this place was, was white. A blinding, empty white that stretched unbroken farther then Jackson could see. He stood up and heard a strange, thundering voice.
"Thou art I," it said, "and I am thou."
"The suns and the stars have granted me strength, and you alone may harness that power."
"I am Odysseus. Thou hast reached a great height".
"What does thou treasure the most?"
Jackson looked in his hand, and found a small stopwatch. He had all but forgotten about it. His father had given it to him before he left for California. It was given as a promise that everything would be all right. That no matter what happened, time would still tick on, and the world would still be there for Jackson and the limitless possibilities that he could face.
"Call my name, if thou is worthy of strength." Said the voice as the white began to darken into the dense horror of the scene facing Jackson and his friends.
Alex and Sam were hopelessly trying to fend off the shadows, and keep them away from Jackson, who lay helpless on the floor.
He stood up, with his head down, and opened his eyes. Suddenly, he felt a strange impulse. A surge in energy that raced around him, and almost instinctively, he pressed the small red button on his stopwatch.
Shards of glass shattered from his hand, and formed a star shape on the ground around his feet as blue light surrounded him.
"Dude?!" Alex turned on his heel and stared in awe.
Jackson said one word and one word alone in reply:
"PERSONA."