"Yosuke!" Yu screamed. "Look out!"

Before Yosuke could take off his headphones, the Hell Knight had already cast Ziodyne. He let out a pained wail as the electricity coursed through his body. The attack knocked him on to the cold metal floor of the laboratory. He closed his eyes and moaned.

So this is where he was going to die.

Yu was the only man standing. Teddie was out cold and had been since the very beginning of the fight. The shadow chased them down each time they tried to escape, and Chie had gone down withing a few minutes. It was only a matter of time until he fell as well. Honestly, he was surprised that he had made it that long. Now there was nothing they could do, other than wait and pray that their leader could take that monster down.

His stupid headphones had been knocked from his head. He could hear faint western soundtracks along with Yu struggling with the shadow. If he hadn't had those stupid things on in the first place, he could have done something to help his partner...

"Y-Yosuke, are you okay?" a tiny voice, barely auidable over the fighting grabbed Yosuke's attention. Chie was struggling to hoist herself off the ground. She grimaced at the pain it was causing her until she finally gave up and flopped back to the ground. She managed to turn herself to face Yosuke, and her expression had changed from pained to concerned.

"Well, Chie, if your kung-fu was a little bit better, we wouldn't be in this position."

Chie stared at him in shock. "You're going to be an ass at a time like this? We could die here, you know."

"Huh, really? The weight of the situation hasn't quite sunk in yet."

"You know what? Forget it. I'm not going to spend my last minutes dealing with you, Yosuke." Chie huffed. She shook her head and turned on to her back.

The two of them lay there in silence, listening to Yu struggle with his fight. His labored breathing and screams of pain told them that it wasn't going well. Yosuke heard sniffling from Chie's direction. He turned and saw her wiping at her eyes, a feeble attempt to fight back tears. Chie never cried when they went inside the TV. In fact, Yosuke was sure he'd never seen her cry anywhere else. Seeing her beaten and crying on the ground made her look so incredibly small, and Yosuke knew she'd set him off with his own waterworks if she started now.

With the last shred of strength he had in him, Yosuke crawled to Chie's side and grabbed her hand. "Hey, don't cry. I'm sorry for being an ass, Chie."

"Well, you should be!" Chie sniffed, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Here we are in the worst battle we've been in and you still have to be... yourself!"

"I really don't know who else I'd be, Chie." Yosuke said.

"If my legs still worked, I'd kick your ass."

Yosuke noticed that Yu wasn't making much noise anymore. All he heard were more shadows, and their calls and growls were getting closer to them. He wished he still had his headphones to put over Chie's ears. She heard them too, though, and she turned and buried her face in Yosuke's jacket. She shook as she sobbed, and Yosuke pulled her close and held her tight.

"You know... I was saving this joke for a time when you're really down." Yosuke said. He needed something to keep her mind off the shadows that were looming over them. "It's the funniest one I know. And I know you love it when I call you with my jokes, so..."

He thought back to when he'd be lying in bed, scouring his brain for any excuse to call her and talk. All he really knew were jokes, and dirty ones at that... But she humored him every time he called, and despite her best efforts, he always got a laugh from her. He wished he was back in his bed, safe at home, knowing that Chie was safe at home in her bed too. Now was a time that she needed one of his crappy jokes the most, and of course he had to deliver.

Chie cried harder when he mentioned jokes, and she crushed him with a hug. A shadow had cast a shadow over them – if he wasn't so close to dying, Yosuke would have made some sort of comment – and he closed his eyes.

"So, Chie, what is the difference between a lobster with boobs and a city bus station?"

-.-.-

AN:

I had this idea for a while and I just wanted to get it out of my system so... here it is :')

The hardest part of this was thinking of a joke at the end, because everything I know is way WAY too bad to really tell haha... anyway I hope you enjoy!

Icee Suicune

(btw, the answer is one is a crusty bus station and one is a busty crustacean :D )