By the time they had reached the fourth floor of Adachi's Magatsu Mandala World, the team was dragging their feet. Dodging had become a matter of luck more than a matter of skill as they avoided blows by the skin of their teeth. The greatest struggle was summoning the energy to cast another spell, leaving them desperate to finish fights as quickly as possible.
They had run through most of their supplies already, left with only the most basic of supplies for emergency. It had come down to a couple of Peach seeds and a handful of Snuff Souls as their last resort. Forgetting to restock on items seemed to bring the Team's fatigue to a new level.
Souji had been getting greedy as he pushed for another floor. He had promised himself this would be the last one, and then they'd take a day or two off.
But they were so close. He was so close to finishing this.
Every now and then Souji found one his legs seeming to lag behind, causing him to stumble. He thought nothing of it, besides the fact that it was a sure sign that they should be leaving sooner than later.
When he fell to his hands and knees after a particularly bad trip, Souji knew it was time to call it quits. As his friends began to gather around him to pull him up and talk him out of any more exploration, he felt a tugging at his pants.
"Are you okay, dude?" he heard Kanji ask to his right.
"Hey, don't push yourself anymore," Chie chastised to his left.
"Watch yourself," Naoto sighed somewhere behind him.
Souji hardly heard them as he looked to his pant leg, wondering what had caused him to fall. He gave a startled cry as he saw the floor's surface ripple under him, and a shadowy hand gripped his ankle tightly.
"Senpai, get up!" he heard Rise shriek through his head. "Someone pull him up!"
More of the dark, translucent hands shot up from the floor before his friends could grasp the situation and grab onto him to pull him up and away from the shadows. The hands quickly grabbed hold of his legs, arms, and head, pulling him through the floor that had been solid a moment ago.
Around him he heard the panicked cries of his friends as they struggled to save him.
He felt the warm grip of his friends' hands on him as they fought over his body, but the shadows had already dragged more than half of his body through what Souji briefly acknowledge as a portal. Was this Adachi's doing?
"Let go! I don't want you to get dragged down too!" he barked at them as more and more of him was lost to the void. "Get out of here!" He was sunk to his shoulders now.
"Partner! Souji, come on!" Yosuke pleaded as he made to grab Souji's hand. "Don't just give up!"
The last thing he saw before his head went under was Yosuke's hand outstretched for him, face twisted distraughtly as was helpless to watch Souji get dragged under.
Souji closed his eyes as he was plunged under, gasping as his stomach turned uncomfortably as he fell through the void.
"You act all high and mighty, dear Leader," he heard a familiar voice ring out. "But lose, and you're just a loser." Sharp laughter followed him through his descent, ringing through his ears.
He hit the ground - or at least a hard surface – before he had time to wonder if he'd be falling through an endless void. Souji took a second to catch his breath as he pushed himself onto his hands and knees and figure out where he had been taken.
"Adachi!" he bellowed out, only seeing the eerie red and black smog around him. In the distance he could see the blurred form of Magatsu Inaba's buildings, and above him, where he had fallen through, was the black and red sky that covered the world inside the tv.
A cacophony of the anguished wails and groans from shadows rose up around him. Souji watched as a hoard of them seemed to grow up from the ground, causing him to instinctively reach for his sword as he scrambled to his feet.
When his fingers fell empty of the hilt, Souji's heart faltered in panic. He had dropped his sword when he had tripped and reached out to catch himself. He didn't have the energy to summon enough magic to wipe them all out.
Somehow, above the screeching and roaring of the shadows he could make out Adachi's smug laughter.
"Show yourself!" he roared, spinning quickly to keep an eye on all of the shadows surrounding him. "Fight me yourself! Or are you just a coward hiding behind shadows?"
An amused chuckle resounded through the area. Souji looked around for the source, only to feel warm breath tickle his ear, and the sound humming too close for comfort.
Souji spun around on his heel, coming face to face with the muzzle of a gun, and behind it, Adachi's sick grin. He jumped back to put some space between them. But if Adachi had wanted him dead, he could have shot him earlier.
"You sure talk big for a punk ass kid," Adachi sneered. "Leader status going to your head? That shit'll get you killed here."
Souji bit the inside of his cheek, trying to figure out what it was that Adachi had pulled him down here for.
"Why did you bring me here? How did you do that?" Souji demanded, fingers twitching anxiously as he wished for a weapon more than anything.
Adachi waved the gun around, the muzzle coming right back to point at Souji's face.
"Ah, that's not how you address your elders, Souji," the former police chided. "You'll show me some respect."
Souji growled in the back of his throat. "Don't jerk me around! What are yo-"
The crack of a gunshot rang through the air, and the faint scent of gunpowder filled Souji's nose. The sound was deafening in the space. He could swear he had felt the bullet zip by his ear.
At his stunned silence Adachi burst into laughter.
"That's your last warning, kid," Adachi said smoothly. "Next one won't miss."
Souji thought his next sentence through. Adachi wanted something if he was sparing him this long.
"P-please," he ground out, lowering his head in case Adachi wanted to see submission, "why did you bring me here?"
There was a brief silence between them, and Souji prayed it was the right thing to say. He didn't want to peek up and see Adachi taking aim at his head.
"I guess that's as good as I can get from a brat like you," the cop acknowledged. "But is that really what you're going to waste your breath asking for?" At Souji's silence, he gave a sigh. "It should be obvious. I thought you were a smart kid. Why would any bad guy kidnap the hero?"
Souji considered a way to word it that Adachi would find acceptable.
"To stop him from saving the day?" he tried, looking hard at the striped floor at his feet.
"Bingo. You ever heard of the saying, to kill the snake you have to cut off the head? Or it says something like that. Next question?"
"How did you bring me here?" Souji heard the gun click as soon as the question left his mouth. He flinched, waiting for the next bullet to sink into his skull. He heard Adachi chuckle under his breath.
"Did'ya like that? I'm still perfecting it," Adachi replied proudly. "It took a while to work, but it's a good thing you were too stubborn to go home. I was going to practice on your friends but you just kept ignoring it. I was wondering if you'd ever stop and check."
Souji squeezed his eyes shut and wished he had. If it had been any of his friends that had been pulled under instead, he wouldn't have ever forgiven himself.
"What's going to happen to them now? Will you leave them alone?" he dared to ask, finally peeking up to see Adachi's contemplative expression.
"Maybe the shadows will get them on their way out," Adachi shrugged, seeming rather uninterested in the others. "Or maybe I'll drag them down one by one, just like you. Would you like some company before you die?"
Souji grit his teeth as Adachi seemed to like the idea more and more. He had no way to warn his friends.
"Don't touch them!" he snarled, again, reaching for the sword that wasn't there.
He heard Adachi laugh just before the gunshot rang through the air again, and Souji dropped to the floor with a grunt. He felt his body tremble in shock as the pain began to make itself known. Wide eyed, Souji pressed shaking hands to where the pain radiated from.
His uniform was warm and wet where he pressed. Adachi had shot him above his naval, possibly hitting his intestines. He could still get away with this if he could grab some of the Peach seeds in his pocket.
If Adachi intended to let him walk away after this.
Souji gnashed his teeth together, trying to keep the groans of pain from escaping. He was unable to hold back the keening whimper. He heard Adachi erupt in laughter. It seemed everything was hilarious to him.
"I did warn you," the cop gloated, amusement coating his words. "But I'm afraid your time is up, anyway. I was going to shoot you regardless."
"Y-you're just going to l-leave me here?" Souji managed to gasp out, panicking as he heard Adachi move from his spot. "Send me back, please!" He didn't want to die in the middle of nowhere. His friends would never find him.
From where he lie on the floor, even through his spinning vision, he could see Adachi glance down at him, a scowl tugging at his lips. He looked at Souji in disgust.
"Didn't you hear me earlier? Cut off the head to kill the snake. You'll die here, kid. This isn't like the movies. Time to grow the fuck up and deal with it. You lost. Better luck next time." Adachi turned to leave.
Even through the pain clouding his mind and dulling his senses, Souji heard the last part very clearly. His blood ran cold as fiery pain shot through the wound.
"Wh-what?"
The former cop stopped and turned, giving Souji a wide eyed grin. The corners of his mouth were turned up to sneer.
"Next time. When you come back. I'll be ready for you, too." Adachi reached the line of shadows that surrounded the perimeter, which had mysteriously gone quiet as the man approached. "You were so close this time, too. What a pity."
The shadows leapt into action, smothering the criminal in their dark essence. The rest melted back into the floor where they had came from. Adachi was gone when Souji blinked.
Just as he thought he had been left alone to die, he heard the voice ring out, echoing loud enough that made Souji wonder if any of his friends hear.
A contented sigh was heard. " You were such a pain. Mangle him, Magatsu Izanagi!"
Before him rose the last face he thought he'd ever see. What appeared to be his own persona looked down at him, large sword held high and at the ready. Just like the rest of the world, this Izanagi was red and black. In the back of his mind, he felt his own Izanagi give a great cry.
The last thing Souji saw was Magatsu Izanagi bringing his sword down. He closed his eyes, because that was the last thing he wanted to see.
I'm going to die alone.
"Maybe we should split up and look for Senpai?" Rise asked the Investigation Team after they had quieted down enough to begin making rescue plans. "I can't sense him anywhere, but maybe Adachi brought him to another part of the tv? Maybe someone can go with Teddie to see if he's around?"
Teddie made an uncertain noise. "I can't be beary certain, but Sensei might still be here! His scent is very faint, though. I'm not sure I could find him on that alone though."
"He… He'll make it! He has to! He's Souji!" Yosuke tried to reason, brow furrowed in frustration. He had pulled his headphones off in an effort to clear his mind, but he was considering putting them back on if it helped him stop imagining Souji lying in a pool of his own blood.
"What if he brought Souji Senpai somewhere we've never been to?" Naoto asked, wishing her detective skills had something to go off of. What good were they if they couldn't find someone when they really needed to?
"If we split up now we'd be playing right into Adachi's hand!" Chie argued, bouncing anxiously on the balls of her feet.
"Senpai could be in trouble and we ain't helping by standing around here!" Kanji shouted, gripping his hair in frustration. "Dammit! We gotta move! No time to talk!"
"Everybody has to shut up!" Rise commanded, the order shooting through their head loudly. Many of them found themselves rubbing their ears like it would alleviate the ringing from Rise's high voice cracking. "We won't get anywhere if we keep arguing. We need a real plan."
The group fell into an uneasy silence, save for the occasional groan of frustration or curse. They were too nervous to think, but that was all they could do with no leads.
"He can't have gone far," Yosuke tried to reason, putting false confidence behind his words. "After all, this is Adachi's world. I don't think Adachi would take him out of it."
Naoto made a small noise of agreement. "I would like to think he doesn't have the power to bring Souji to any of the other worlds by means of magic. Maybe once he was separated he could physically carry Senpai out." But that was just hopeful thinking.
"We could have a few people go back and guard the entrance if you're afraid of Adachi-san abducting Souji-kun," Chie suggested, but then realized she was suggesting exactly what she had been against in the first place. "Oh, but then that would be separating us!"
"I'm not sure we have much of a choice," Yukiko mumbled somberly, her eyes downcast. "I don't want to spend forever debating what could or couldn't happen."
"Well whatever happens, we still gotta move fast," Kanji grunted out, clenching and unclenching his jaw nervously. "All this sittin' around is making me antsy."
"How should we divide?" Rise asked tentatively when no other suggestions were brought forth.
"I'm going to search, no question!" Yosuke declared adamantly, gripping his kunai tightly in his hands.
"I won't sit around and keep guard!" Kanji agreed, puffing out his chest.
"You can count me in on that action!" Chie added, clenching her fists and throwing them up in the air.
"And you might need me in case Souji-kun needs healing," Yukiko suggested, giving a weak smile.
"I would also like to help the search," Naoto, regretfully, added last.
"Well, Teddie has to be in the search team because he's got the nose," Rise reminded them, making a sound of annoyance. "I think we need to divide this evenly, and we need some people who are strong enough to fight in case they do confront Adachi-san."
"I'm still going," Yosuke insisted before anyone could say otherwise. "Kanji, you might need to go and be a guard. Sorry, man."
"Hey! Why do I gotta go be guard? You go be guard!" the younger classman shouted, ready to knock Yosuke's lights out for suggesting such a thing.
"Would you both stop it?" Naoto growled out, dropping her head in her hands in exhaustion. "You're part of the reason we're taking so long to come to a decision. I say we vote."
"Do we really have time for this?"
"We don't, so that's why we should stop talking and start splitting!"
"We keep coming back to this and it's getting nowhere!"
Before they could regain order, they heard a sigh not belonging to any of them. The sound echoed, as though it were being cast overhead.
"You were such a pain. Mangle him, Magatsu Izanagi!"
Deafening silence followed after. The group collectively felt their heart stop beating for just a moment.
"What the hell was that?" Kanji whispered, pale faced and wide eyed.
"We're outta time," Yosuke hissed. "Let's go find Souji!"
Souji wasn't sure how he became aware of his body again. Pain washed over his body in waves like water lapping at a sandy shore - receding, but always returning.
Izanagi had sprung from his mind on his own last minute. However tired and unwilling his body was, his persona seemed ready to put up a fight. Not that it had done much good in the end.
Magatsu Izanagi had torn through his own Izanagi. The pain of his persona being skewered through sent Souji's consciousness over the edge. He had been lucky enough to pass out before the blade was then brought down on his own body.
He laid in silence, using all of his energy to simply breathe. He was going to die alone. He was sure it was better this way, so they wouldn't have to see him die this time around. But damn it all, he was scared. He was too exhausted to cry about it, and no doubt it would only hurt more.
What did he look like right now? He seemed unable to look down at his body and examine the damage. Somehow, although he was aware of pain, he could feel nothing else. Had the red Izanagi severed his lower body from him? Were his organs all in place?
Maybe it was better he couldn't see it. He had never died this way before.
He had lost once again. Maybe if his team could pull it together they could still solve this case. Maybe time would stop looping for him if they could just defeat Adachi at the end.
Souji shut his eyes and wondered what he should do better next time.
"Partner!" shattered the silence. Souji would have jumped if he had the strength. He peeled his eyes open slowly, afraid that Adachi or the shadows were playing tricks on him.
He felt his heart melt as he met soft brown eyes. The overwhelming silence had broken as he was warmed by Yosuke's gentle smile.
"Yo-yosuke?" he murmured, unable to do more than sigh the word out at the end of his breath.
"Hey Partner," his Magician greeted, sitting before Souji. "We lost ya. It scared us."
"What… What happened? How can you be here?" Souji rumbled, struggling to form words. Pain muddled his words and his thoughts, slurring his words.
Yosuke smiled but didn't make to answer. For the situation, Yosuke was not reacting appropriately. Souji could not decide if this was the real Yosuke or not. It was probably a product of the shadows, sent to screw with his brain.
"Yosuke. You aren't real. You can't be real."
Souji shut his eyes again. He could almost appreciate the company, but seeing a false Yosuke was the last thing he wanted to see.
"I'm hurt, Partner. We were looking all over for you, and now you just ignore me?"
He didn't have the breath to waste on a shadow. He just wanted to get this over with. He was so tired.
"We'll get him for you. You got us this far. We're so close. They're coming for you – the others. I just got here first."
Souji took a deep breath, no matter how much he didn't want to play this shadow's games. This "Yosuke" made him want more than anything for it to be the real thing. And it didn't seem like it would be stopping the act any time soon.
"They say… third time's the charm," Souji groaned out. "But this is the fourth time."
Yosuke made a strange noise. "Fourth time? What are you talking about?"
"The fourth time I've tried to solve this case. Time keeps looping for me. I've met you four times. And I've failed you four times." He squeezed his eyes shut as the pain throbbed.
"Hey. You'd never fail me. The fact that you keep on trying makes me happy," his partner assured gently. "You're going to be fine. We're going to solve this together."
"Each time we do this, we learn something new. We get the pieces together a little faster… But I guess Adachi can learn, too. You died last time, Yosuke. And Nanako," he choked, "Oh god, Nanako. She's died every single time so far. I don't know how to stop it yet, but I just want to save her before the loop ends. I thought this time we had it."
Yosuke gave him a sympathetic smile. Souji saw him reach out to touch his face, but he couldn't feel it. He grunted as a wave of pain shot through him. He wished he could feel Yosuke's hand on his cheek.
"That sounds really crazy, Partner. It's hard to believe! But the tv world was pretty unbelievable too. You know, even though you've had to go through this so many times, I'm glad you got to know me each time."
Souji sighed, pressing his face into the floor. "I couldn't do this without you, Yosuke. I couldn't get through this each time if I didn't have you by my side." If he had the blood to spare, it would be rushing up to his cheeks. "I never get to tell you how much you mean to me."
He had wanted to save a confession for their success. Yosuke never seemed ready to hear it, what with all his teasing Kanji. Souji hadn't figured out how to get Yosuke comfortable around the idea of sexuality.
"Maybe next time you can tell me. When we do better. And everyone's alive," Yosuke suggested, humming thoughtfully.
Giving a weak chuckle, Souji grunted. "Now I know you aren't the real Yosuke. He would never say such a thing."
"Hey! Don't be so sure!" Yosuke protested, smiling wryly. "Maybe you can plant a nice wet one on me when we stop Adachi next time."
"If only," Souji sighed, wondering if Yosuke would punch him and run. "Maybe I will though. I always put the case first. Didn't want to scare you off." He couldn't imagine if Yosuke rejected him while they were still in the middle of the case.
Souji felt his eyelids getting heavier. He wasn't sure he'd be around much longer. But at least the talk had eased some of his anxiety about dying alone. His eyelids fluttered weakly as he felt his consciousness fading. He could hardly feel the pain now.
Yosuke leaned forward, his face getting closer and closer as Souji's eyes shut. If he could feel it, he was sure Yosuke would be pressing his lips against his face. He could look forward to it next time around.
"Partner," he breathed out, summoning the last of his strength to try and reach out. Even if it wasn't the real Yosuke, he wanted to die holding onto his image. By some miracle he felt his hand lift. He peeked an eye open just to locate his partner's hand.
As he reached for the hand Yosuke didn't have placed on his face. It was so far away. His hand fell half way there. But Yosuke just smiled and Souji watched him move to place his hand on top of Souji's.
The Fool shut his eyes and waited for the contact to warm his numb hand. When he felt nothing, he made one last effort to open his eyes.
Souji smiled when he saw nothing before him. He was alone, just as he had thought. But at least he had convinced himself that he wasn't, even for a moment. And now, he was sure they had it next time, and he would finally tell Yosuke what he had been keeping to himself this whole time.
Any moment now, time would restart.
When Teddie had caught the scent of Souji's blood the team went into overdrive on searching for their leader.
They went up one more floor before deciding to go back as the scent faded. When they went back to the floors they had come from, Teddie followed the scent like a hound.
They found Souji on the first floor of Magatsu Mandala World. When they saw his body from afar, they came to a screeching halt. He wasn't moving no matter how much they called out to him.
Yosuke ran ahead first, gritting his teeth and hoping for the best. He had a weak Dia spell at best, but it had to be better than nothing.
The Team wasn't far behind when Yosuke arrived at the body. There were startled cries of anguish, and Yukiko barked out a healing spell over him, but Yosuke couldn't hear them.
His heart was pounding too loud in his ears, He felt sick as he looked at the broken body of their fearless leader.
Yosuke reached out to touch Souji's outstretched hand.