Part 12: 05/09/09: In the Shadow of a Full Moon
So, May 9th. A Full Moon, huh? I'm sure nothing untoward will happen.
Want To Be Close / Time
How's it going? Have you been training in Tartarus?
Yeah, a lot. Great, keep it up. It never hurts to train while you have the chance. My wounds will heal in no time, and then I'll be able to join you on the front line. But, don't just rely on me.So, uh, something important here...
> You wonder if something will happen.
> You should probably head back to the dorm just to be on the safe side.
We don't get any free time at all today. Last chance to save at all for the totally definitely nothing was, well, yesterday.
After that, we just skip right on over to the Dark Hour...
In The Shadow Of A Full Moon The Voice Someone Calls
You're still at it?
Yeah. You never know when the enemy might appear. But, I thought you couldn't scan outside of Tartarus?
To be honest, I lack the power...
Although, the power of Persona seems to be much broader than I thought. 
There's something special about his ability. It hasn't been that long since his awakening, either. I have to admit, I was surprised too. But in the end, it's up to him whether or not he can reach his full potential. Huh...? Silence
What!? You actually found one!?
Wait, something's not right. The reading is too big. We've never encountered anything like-- Calamity 
You mean, it's one of those!? ...It must be.
I'll wake up the others.One press of a button, a loud alarm and a fade to blue later...
Where is it!? I'll rip it a new one! We've detected a Shadow outside of Tartarus. We don't know for sure, but we think it's another big one. We have to defeat any of them we find, as quickly as possible.
That must be avoided at all costs.
In other words, we need to kick some ass, right? Well, count me in!
*sigh* Junpei...
Wha--!? Are you kidding!? I'm going! You still need to recover. You'll just be a hindrance.
Tch! They'll fare better than you, in your current state. Have faith in them, Akihiko... They're ready. You'll get your chance. But for now, wait for the Chairman. ......
Dammit... Relax! I've got it covered! I guess I've got no choice...
We're counting on you... Why me?
Who cares? They chose you, didn't they? Same as always. Heh, looks like you're stuck playin' leader again...
Sucks to be you.
If you're providing backup out there, you'll need time to get ready, right? Wait for me in front of the station. I'll be there as soon as I can.
Got it.
Alright, let's go! The Voice Someone Calls
She'll be here soon. There's a full moon tonight...
...Huh? What the!?
I just love the reactions (by which I mean Junpei's) to Mitsuru turning up on the motorbike that they all know she has.
Listen carefully. Tonight, I'll be providing support from here. Everything else is the same. 
To get there, you'll have to walk on the tracks.
Are you serious!? Isn't that dangerous...?
But, your bike... It's special.That's a bit of an understatement...
Now, if circumstances change, I'll notify you immediately. Let's get started. Okay. L-Let's do this! End
Deep Breath Deep Breath 
You have to stop the Shadows before they harm the passengers. Hurry!
This is a small, controllable section that basically exists just to setup everyone's equipment and check out the full moon. And also get a look at Tartarus from a distance, for good measure.
The Voice Someone Calls
Yes, I can hear you clearly. We just got here, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary... The readings are definately coming from that monorail. Proceed with caution, and stay together. Got it. Heheh, my Persona's just beggin' to be used!
He's been Transmogged, huh... Creepy. So... guys like him don't remember a thing, right? It's probably better that way. Huh...? Wait a minute. We're not at a station, but the doors are wide--
!?As if on cue, the doors begin to slam shut. Great work, tempting fate there.
Calamity
Damn, it won't open! Ow, my fingers! Will ya look at them! They're all jacked up! What's wrong? What happened!? It looks like we're trapped inside...
Be ready for anything! Proceed with extreme caution! R-Roger! Deep Breath Deep Breath
We get to move through the monorail's train cars now though they're lacking in much of anything. Including Shadows. Hmm, how odd...
I don't see any Shadows...Junpei even comments on it as we enter the 9th car...
Though this time around, nothing happens.
Well, not immediately anyway. Once we get about halfway through the 8th this happens.
*gasp* There it is!
Oddly though, rather than attack us, the Shadow runs away. Hmm!
Junpei, being kind of an idiot, fails to see through the world's most obvious ruse and tries to give chase.
Something's not right... The enemy is acting strangely. But, if we don't go after it, we're gonna lose it! Makoto, you're in charge over there. What do you think? We should be careful. I agree.
Who needs your advice!? We can beat that thing no problem! Hell, I'll do it myself!
Watch out! Behind you!
Oh look, the obvious trap was in fact an obvious trap. What a shocker. I bet as we're getting ambushed here, Junpei's getting jumped by a bunch up ahead.
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
Alright, so, we have some new Shadows to deal with here. Makes sense, since this isn't Tartarus and all.
They, uh, are cripplingly weak to fire though. Well, they ARE books...
They also signal the beginning of just getting real EXP values in general. I'm getting excited!
Deep Breath Deep Breath
We have no choice. You have to go after him, or you'll be picked off, one by one. Dammit, Stupei! What are you thinking!?If I had to guess, he isn't.
From what I can tell, he's only a few cars ahead.
Gah! Get out of our way!! Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
Two Spurious Books like before, but with a Heat Balance added in for good measure. This one resists Fire (and Ice) so you can't just use the same thing here, but...
It's weak to Wind and Elec to compensate. It balances heat, after all! Not so great at the other things.
Deep Breath Deep Breath
Well, after that we get a chance to heal if necessary (ha) and then run through another empty carriage.
He should know it's too dangerous to go alone... Don't you think he's acting weird? Did you say something to upset him, Makoto-kun? Well, we can ask him once we've caught up to him!No need, I can tell you right now what the problem is.
He's obviously upset and mad that we were assigned group leader again, and he wasn't considered. Unfortunately for him, it's stunts like this that make him bad leadership material in the first place.
Shoot! He's surrounded!? We've gotta help him!
Well, shit, he's been hit with an All-Out Attack! He got too cocky...
...I've got it under control! Take this, you freak of nature! Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
So, one book, one balance and... a Dancing Hand?! Well, that's different.
It's not quite the same as the ones we fought before, though. It has significantly less health and a reduced movepool.
It's also capable of taking over double its max HP from a single Agi. Resistances are also, therefore, quite different from before, yes. It sure ain't weak to Strike here.
Silence
...So, are you alright? O-Of course I am... I was doin' just fine... Excuse me!?Well, he's not wrong. That fight was 2/3rds weak to Fire and 1/3rd resistant sure, but Heat Balance kind of crumples because it's trash fodder.
Be careful, you three! I don't detect any movement, but stay alert! Calamity
It seems the monorail is under the enemy's control... Whaddya mean, "it seems"!? Uh... This doesn't look good.
WHAT!? Oh, God! What are we gonna do!? Calm down and listen. 
You'll have to defeat it to stop the train!So just do what you were going to do anyway, and everything will work out fine. Convenient!
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
Well, so long as the table is only laughing it's fine. Being a table, it IS weak to Fire but uh Makoto missed like a dumbass.
So Yukari had to actually do something, and one-shot the table anyway.
Deep Breath Deep Breath
Anyway, yeah, uh, you probably noticed the time limit. That never stops ticking down now that it's started. If it hits zero, that's kind of amazing honestly. You have to TRY to do that.
There ARE a couple normal Shadow fights hanging around in the second and third carriages, but...
They're technically downgrades to the random fodder from Tartarus. Kind of a weird decision, but there is a chance that someone could maybe not one-shot the book, hand, table or balance so this is sort of maybe easier to deal with.
The Trance Twins being here is kinda a clever dickmove though, since they CAN steal your SP and all.
As we enter the second car, this happens. It... doesn't affect anything though.
And of course, what we want is right up front in the first car...
The High Priestess (Portable) That Which Comes From The Darkness 
At the beginning of his journey, as the Fool met the Magician, he also met the Priestess. The Popess balances with the Magus to create all understanding. While the Magician is the conscious, the Priestess is the unconscious. She represents the potential and mystery that surrounds the unknown, in particular it generally refers to hidden knowledge. Remember the unlimited possibilities held within the self, and you can achieve anything...
...Is this the friggin' boss? We're in the front car; it's gotta be! Hurry!
II. Arcana Priestess (Portable) Master of Shadow
As a Shadow, the Priestess represents the Reversed side of the High Priestess tarot card. She was active by taking a direct role in proceedings, for example. A Priestess is generally knowledgable and wise...
She has an interesting design, huh? Long scrolls for "hair" covered in Sanskrit, an overly direct acknowledgement of the feminine aspect of the Priestess and she takes the B and J from the card directly. They stand for Boaz and Jachin and are two of the copper pillars from the Temple of Solomon, the first Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Anyway, uh, the Priestess is kind of very simple honestly. She has 300 HP, 200SP and... 10 Strength, 10 Magic, 10 Endurance, 10 Agility and 10 Luck. Sure, okay.
Skillwise, she IS varied enough to put them to some degree of use. She always opens by summoning reinforcements, though.
In particular she summons two Muttering Tiaras. They ARE a bit different to normal and are also different to each other!
The one on our left has 8 in all stats and 100HP. It likes to cast Pulinpa, which I hope you remember from before.
If it's not doing that, then it's being a bit of a bother and casting Agi.
The other one has 7 in all stats and 70 HP. It casts Dia at that is it.
Resistance wise, these Muttering Tiaras are souped up somewhat being immune to Expel, Curse and Fire.
But they ARE Muttering Tiaras, so they are still quite weak to Ice.
Just, uh, keep the Ice single target and never aimed at the Priestess herself.
In an amazing mercy, the analysis screen here actually DOES tell you her elemental resistances. In particular, she repels Ice. Summoning Muttering Tiaras would be clever if you could realistically even have Mabufu at this point.
Anyway, her other skills include a Pulinpa of her own. Inconvenient, but not that big of a deal really.
Her basic attack is Pierce elemental for some reason. I don't know. She's slapping someone around with her scroll hair and that's Pierce. Look, just go with it okay?
She can also cast Bufu, just so you can find out the quicker way to not cast Ice at her. The quickest way is to just do it, naturally.
But she's not limited to just the single-target version. Mercifully, though, this means she can't really hit anyone's weakness except maybe Makoto's.
She doesn't need to, to do a number on folks. Especially Yukari, which you'd think wouldn't be the case huh? She's the mage! Why does she take more damage?
Simple: her Endurance sucks. All defense is based on Endurance, since it doesn't affect HP here.
And lastly she can do Assault Dive. Remember it from the Rampage Drive before?
Yeah, about the same here. Her Strength IS ever-so-slightly higher though.
But, honestly, the Priestess is not a hard fight. Understandable, really. She CAN'T be a hard fight because you get railroaded into it without a chance to save or anything. It's an odd mercy.
She gies some very nice EXP though, and a Diamond is great too. It's not vendor trash! Gems are important. Gems are VERY important.
Silence
Crisis 
We're going too fast! We have to put on the brakes or else...! What are you waiting for!? There's a train up ahead!Seriously, c'mon, highschoolers. Operate this train! You should be able to do that effortlessly.
Dammit! I don't know how to stop this thing!
In all seriousness, though, as everyone else is freaking out Makoto DOES just run through and... do something.
Silence
I-I think so... Is everybody alright!? Uh, y-yeah, we're okay. Ha, haa... My knees are shaking... Dude... I'm like drenched in sweat... *sigh* I'm so glad you're safe... I'm sorry I couldn't do more on my end.
Tranquility
I trusted my instincts. You saved me again.
...Thanks.
Silence
> It seems the level of trust between you all has grown.
> You learned a new tactic!
This is Mitsuru. We've successfully completed the operation. The monorail didn't sustain any noticeable damage.Although the mysterious teleportation is, uh, not something we can do much about.
Thank you, Mitsuru.
Now, I don't have to worry about tomorrow's headlines. The team did a great job. They're learning quickly. But, what are the Shadows up to? Taking over a monorail... This is getting out of hand. I'll be looking into the matter.
Hmmm... Let's not jump to any conclusions. For now, we should study their behavior for patterns or clues. We cannot afford to always wait for them to make the first move.
Don't be so hard on yourself. You're doing fine.
More importantly...
Do you have anything to drink, Akihiko? Huh...? Why do you look so tired, Ikutsuki-san? Wait... Don't tell me that bicycle outside is yours! Boy, am I gonna be sore tomorrow!
> It seems as if the prediction came true.
> You wonder what it means...
> You are too exhausted to make any sense of it right now.
> You decide to rest as soon as you get back to the dorm...