Chapter XIV: Foreboding.
***Late Night***
The city was different at night. The star's satellite was an entirely different place without the yellow glow of the sun lighting up its many stores and cafes; and the fluorescence of the artificial lights gave the place a much more synthetic feel. Jackson was suddenly very aware that this was the centre of Falcon City, and although the light of the working day was gone, the busyness that it was brimming with would continue to thrive throughout the night.
The group made their way through the hustle and bustle and the noise of the night, and gathered themselves together around the bench that they were beginning to become familiar with. They knew the cracks that rippled its wood, and where the varnish was peeling. They knew the plaque that had been rusted and scratched with age to a point where the inscription was almost illegible. Mostly, though, they knew the feeling that accompanied this bench. The invisible bubble of emptiness and fear that orbited its weakening frame, and the incredible sense of foreboding. As if the air around the bench itself knew where the four adventurers were going.
"Brr, its so cold here." Alex shivered, "This is why we shouldn't come at night. Plus, it's dangerous at night, I get worried when we come out in the city at this time."
"If you're afraid of a couple shady characters here, then maybe you shouldn't come and fight shadows over in the other world. Why not head home and have a nice mug of hot chocolate. It must be past your bed time by now." Jackson chuckled, as he took a handheld radio out of the bag that Sam had prepared for him.
"HaHaaa! Ladies and Gentlemen!" Alex proclaimed, "We got a comedy Genius over here! He'll make you feel three feet tall for one night only!" A few people turned their heads. Others had theirs turned directly to the ground, as they hurried away from the youths. "No takers." Alex smirked, "How surprising."
"Alex, please shut up, you're drawing attention to yourself." Sam pestered, "Alright guys, you should both have a radio in your bags which you can clip onto your waist."
"Already got it." Jackson said.
"Yeah, found mine." Alex added.
"Well, I've already got a radio, so." Ray said rather awkwardly.
"Ah yeah, sorry Ray, I only have three bags." Sam admitted, "Now these radios act like any other, but also have a walkie-talkie setting, meaning that not only do we each have a means in and out of the shadow world, but we can also contact each other if we get split up."
"Good thinking, Sam." Ray said, "Now everyone put your hand on this." He presented his radio, and they all placed their palms on the cold metal of its surface, as he turned the dial. They were engulfed by the shadow world once again.
"I guess I'll explain the other things in your bags when we need them." Sam said quietly, as she slipped the rucksack over her shoulders.
"Good." Ray said, "Everyone take your armor and weapon like last time."
They all took the relevant equipment from Ray's duffle bag, and prepared themselves.
Jackson looked around at the emptiness of this world. Even though they had come from a dark night, the world still seemed thick with blackness. No glowing streetlights guided them now. There was no light at all save for the eerie glow of the sky that was dampened by purple clouds.
"Hopefully we'll get to see some shadows with powers besides the basic Agi and Bufu skills you've already seen." Ray said confidently, as he began to head off in search of a fight, "There's a whole range of abilities that you can all learn."
"Sounds exciting." Sam said sarcastically.
"Come now, Sam don't be so negative." Ray insisted, "I have a good feeling about this night."
"Me too." Alex smiled, as he spun one of the throwing knives in his set around the fingers of his right hand.
"Lets just concentrate on the task at hand." Jackson concluded. "It's important that we get some worthwhile experience while we can."
They wandered through the world for a while, squinting into the fog in the hope of finding some shadows, but nothing stared back.
"It's too damn dark." Alex moaned, "I can't see a thing."
"There'll be something soon, don't you worry." Ray said.
"Guys, there should be a flashlight in each of your bags." Sam explained, as she pulled her flashlight out from between the zip of her rucksack, and showed it to them.
"Good thinking!" Jackson said, as he rummaged in his to find one.
Alex, Sam, and Jackson flickered their lights on, and shone them into the path ahead. Nothing was illuminated at first, but Jackson's beam soon picked out a pair of red eyes peering out from the window of what, in the real world, was a Starbucks.
The creature to which the eyes were attached leaped towards them, drifting through the windowpane as if it were water, leaving it perfectly intact behind.
"Ok guys, lets do this!" Ray called out, as they all took up their battle positions.
More of the creatures began to gather from the thick smoke around the group. They were similar in appearance to the very first shadows that Jackson and his friends encountered. They were large black blobs on the floor, guided only by the arms that reached out from under the ground around them. These blobs had different masks to the previous ones, though. More elaborately shaped, with curled edges and thin eye slits. They were known as Inspired Maya, and by the time the fight had begun, there were five of them facing the party.
"Ok, this will be different to the other fights we've experienced." Ray began, "These shadows are strong with wind based attacks. They'll probably try to hit you with Garu skills, which none of you are strong against, so watch out."
"What can we use?" Jackson asked.
"They'll be week to Zio skills, but none of you have any, so just use what you can." Ray suggested.
Alex ran in and threw his yo-yo in front of him, shouting, "Mabufu!" as it spun back into his palm. Proteus appeared and fired a wave of ice at the shadows from the tip of his gun. They all took the blow, but none were defeated. "Damn, guess they'll take more than that."
"Alright, here goes." Jackson pushed the button on his evoker, and Odysseus rose from the ground beneath them in a swarm of blue light. "Cleave!" Jackson commanded, as Odysseus sliced clean through one of the blobs, leaving the two halves of its body to disappear in a cloud of smoke. "Agh!" Jackson shouted, as he clutched his chest.
"Be careful what commands you use." Ray said, "Sometimes an attack may be a strain on your body."
"Thanks for the warning." Jackson grimaced sarcastically.
One of the blobs clawed mercilessly at Alex, who had no time to block. "Argh!" He shouted, as its sharp fingertips left thin red lines of blood down his chest. He kicked the shadow back. "They're fast!"
"Here, take this!" Sam said, as she threw a small med kit from her bag over to him.
"Thanks."
Another of the shadows raised one of its arms above its head and let out a monstrous cry.
"It's using magaru!" Ray shouted, but it was too late. An enormous wave of energy was already building around the floor of the three persona users, gluing them to the ground. Jackson felt an immense pressure rippling trough his bones from the tip of his head to the balls of his feet, as a great wind began to thunder around him. An unworldly green light shone from the floor beneath his feet, and the feet of his friends. Then, in an instant, they were all engulfed in the same green energy that shot up from the ground. Jackson felt the pressure of the wind crushing into his bones. It was like he was being pulled apart by some strange gravity. And then it was gone. Jackson and Alex sighed, holding tight to their chests as the breath returned to their lungs. But Sam fell to her knees and collapsed on the floor.
"Sam!" Jackson called, and he ran to her side.
Another of the shadows now made a move to attack, launching itself towards Jackson. "Look out, man!" Alex dived between Jackson and the oncoming shadow, and was thrown to the floor. He struck the hard cement with force enough to knock the wind from him, and he gasped in distress, trying to find it again.
Jackson knelt by Sam's side, and lifted her head with his hands. There was blood lining her body, staining the green emblem of her uniform to a rich crimson. "C'mon Sam, you've got to get up!" He shouted! He looked at Ray. "You have to help her!" He called.
"Get up and fight Jackson!" Ray shouted back, "This is not the time! The fight is still going on!"
"Fuck the fight, she's dying!" Jackson shouted in dismay, as the shadows began to loom over him. "There has to be something you can do!"
"Here!" Alex coughed, as he threw the med kit to Jackson.
"Thanks." He quickly pried the box open and began treating Sam's wounds. "C'mon Sam, you can do it. You're going to be ok, I promise."
"Oi! Shadow things!" Alex threw one of his knives at the shadows, and it pierced the creature's oily skin. They all turned to face him. "Yeah that's right, come over here you ugly little puddles!" he waved his arms above his head, and the monsters all began to crawl towards him, leaving Jackson and Sam free.
"C'mon Sam!" Jackson said, "C'mon!"
Her eyes were fading. She opened her mouth to speak, "Jackson, I-" But before she could finish, her eyes fell shut.
Jackson paused in disbelief as he felt her slip away...