Part 2. Gab a tissue.

10th SCENT: COME SAVE HER, HERO

Yu tried to pull her away, but jerked his arm back as the heat of the light hit his hand. Tiny rivulets of steam drifted up from his skin. He saw curved claws extend out from his fingers like a feline's, then disappear. "What...?" He shielded his eyes from its increasing brightness, though could not cover his ears from her scream. At last, the light faded, as did the cry of pain.

The spotlight shut down, forcing his eyes to readjust. When they did, Chie was nowhere in sight. He glanced at her crumpled up jacket. Gingerly, he lifted her abandoned, favorite article of clothing. He wasn't prepared for what the beam left behind.

Chie was shaking, curled up on the floor. Two honey-colored floppy ears drooped over her head, and a tail like that of a golden retriever stuck out from beneath her shirt. It had only changed her body, but left her clothes alone.

Fighting the shock, he wrapped her green jacket around her and picked her up. She was smaller than Yosuke as a demon.

Everyone stared as Yu ran back to them cradling the puppy girl.

"What happened to her?" Kanji's eyes widened. He was now officially freaked out –despite how cute the puppy looked.

Yukiko accepted the new dog demon from Yu so he could fight if he needed to.

"That beam must have turned her into a full animal demon." Naoto thought back to the photos of Myumi Yamano and Saki Konishi. Realization of what had happened to them slapped her in the face with a metaphorical brick.

"Not my intended target, but she'll do as an understudy. One can always learn the art of stealing hearts." The Dark Diva giggled. "In fact," she raised the microphone to her mouth so her voice echoed through the room. "That sounds like a good idea. C'mon, boys. Hand 'em over." She waggled her fingers at the group. "Ahahaha!"

"O-our hearts?" Rise muttered. Though she was weak, she didn't like the sound of that at all.

"I like my heart where it is, thanks," Yukiko held up her hand.

Something large, round, and striped in red and black formed out of the fog. It had no eyes, or legs, or even a body. It was nothing but a floating head, and a giant sickly black tongue.

"What are those?" Yukiko started to back up toward the front door. She had no weapons, no way to fight it, and she knew it was staring at her even though it didn't have eyes.

Another one formed to the right.

Yosuke faced one while Naoto faced the other. "We can't take them on. We never learned," He fought to remember anything he could about this world.

Naoto stared the tongue creatures advanced. "You protected me once." Curved claws extended out from her fingers. "You can do it again."

"What? I don't know how! You're the one with the built-in weaponry!"

"Your nightmare is not a nightmare. It happened! This is the Red World! Our lives were in danger then, but you wouldn't leave me behind. You have to remember what you did that stopped that monster!"

"How am I supposed to remember that?!" He glanced to the small puppy demon in Yukiko's arms. Little Chie sniffed the air, blinking slightly, and asked what was going on. He cringed. The words were in their language. She retained the basic look of a Human –much like his and Naoto's natural form—but he could tell she was fading fast. Her head lolled to the side as she passed out.

"What are you two talking about?" Kanji cringed when one of the floating monsters tried to lick him. He dodged, but holding Rise meant he couldn't dive behind anything for protection. He shut his eyes, expecting it to eat him, or slobber on him, or dissolve him in acid—whatever it was going to do, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes, blinking in shock. "Naoto?"

Naoto stood with her arms crossed in front of her, claws out, growling at the striped monster. The enemy bore long gashes down its side. It shook itself from the attack. She told herself she was guarding Rise. They were enduring this torture to rescue her, after all. When she glanced back to check if she was all right, it was Kanji's face she looked to first, his well-being that owned her concern. That didn't make sense. She didn't know him at all. "Take her and get out, now!"

Yu thought back to that night two months ago when the fox demon had felt threatened and the world was still new. He'd somehow managed to create a gale inside the house. He'd only calmed down when Yu had come over at the request of Mrs. Hanamura.

Yosuke's heart raced as he consciously recalled that nightmare, specifically the moment when the Shadow was bearing down on them with intent to eat them alive. He trembled. Suddenly, without thinking, his hand snapped back and grabbed hold of Yu's wrist.

Yu's eyes snapped open wide. A rush of images slammed into his mind. He saw the shadow through Yosuke's memory—which was like looking at a giant through glass. He saw it lift the tiny young raccoon demon and devour it, then he saw it come for him and a cat demon on the ground beside him. He understood then the emotion that had drawn out that power.

He twisted his hand to clasp the others wrist as well, and nodded once.

Yosuke let him go and faced the two tongue-monsters. He had to fight this nightmare. He had to try, or they would all die. He focused on that moment, on saving their lives. A rush of green breeze formed around him. It swirled in a hurricane pattern, gaining in strength, and using every shred of power he could find. He had no idea what he was doing, but it seemed to be working. One word flared briefly to the front of his mind. Garu. He zeroed in on the two monsters, and thrust his hands out at them.

The green wind coalesced into a sphere that slammed into the two assailants. It sent them back into the walls flanking the door to the house. Both fizzled into a black miasma.

He planted his hands on his knees. "Holy crap." He panted.

"Putting it lightly," Kanji stared at the kid he was going to beat up that morning, and was kind of glad he didn't. He still didn't know what to make of any of this, but shock had driven back any logic a long time ago. Right now, he was rolling with the punches. He set Rise down. "You all right?"

She nodded. "I think...I can walk."

"Yeah, well you'd better run."

"We need to get her out of here." Yukiko glanced to the small dog demon. "She looks like she's getting worse." She brushed at one of Chie's ears. Her best friend, the one person who knew her better than she knew herself, had fallen victim to the attack just because she'd shoved Yukiko through the door first.

The puppy demon whimpered, stirring slightly. She was barely conscious, but holding on.

"Oh, thank God." Yukiko exhaled in relief. Her friend had survived. Chie was always the stronger one, so if anyone could survive that, it would be her. She hugged the little dog demon. "Stay with me, ok? We'll fix this."

The group ran out of the theater back to the courtyard and down the stairs.

A cluster of four of those tongue-monsters blocked their path. Shadow Rise stood in the middle with her microphone. "Leaving so soon? But you'll miss the matinee."

Yosuke felt like he's just been kicked in the nuts. "Oh, come on!"

Naoto growled. "You know, I'm really getting sick of her."

Yu couldn't agree more with that sentiment. He could feel his skin tingling.

One of the tongue monsters charged.

Weak, but feeling like she needed to repay them for rescuing her. Rise pushed Yukiko out of the way just in time to be licked up her entire body by the creature's enormous, thick black tongue. She cried out and hit the ground, dizzy. The world spun around her name being called by the girl in the red sweater. She could feel Yukiko trying to shake her awake, and worked desperately to sit up. Pins and needles thrummed through her limbs. "I can't...move..."

Naoto stood in front of them in a fight stance with her hands up, claws ready to slash if it got any closer.

Kanji faced down the other side with his foot back, ready to box the next monster that dared to get close. "C'mon, you freaks!"

Yu looked to his friends, to their situation, and clenched his fists. They had no way to fight these things, and Yosuke had used up his energy taking out the two inside. This was it. This was how they were going to die. Not by a car accident, or through old age, or even the flu. Nope. They would all be killed by strange energy-sucking monsters, and a heart-stealing devil diva with a microphone. A headache began to pound at the center of his forehead. He pressed his hand to it, though the same voice he'd heard two days ago returned.

'I am Thou, and Thou art I. The time...is now.'

When he pulled his hand away, it held a blue card.

Shadow Rise spun the mic by its cord and caught it in her hand with a stomp of her high heel to the ground. "Can't have a party crasher."

"Yosuke, take Chie and the others and run." Yu closed his hand around the card.

"Forget it. I'm not leaving you behind."

Yu locked eyes with him. If they didn't leave now, they would all die. He had to protect them. "Go!"

"Like hell I will!"

He grit his teeth, breathing deeply. He didn't want to do this, but the fox demon gave him no choice. "Yosuke! I am your Bonded! I am giving you a direct command! Take everyone and run!"

Yosuke froze, wide eyed and speechless. He felt his foot slide back. Yu had given him his word that he would never used that ability against him. His friend would die if he had to fight these monsters by himself. He would lose his Bonded –his best friend—and that scared the crap out of him. "Yu..." He stepped back again, though tried to stop himself from obeying the command.

"Go!"

Yosuke grimaced, "Dammit!" He gave in and ran to Rise. "Help me carry her," he said to Kanji.

The tall boy easily picked her up again. Kanji was about to ask why he was obeying Yu, but the pained look on the others face was enough. Somehow, he was being forced to leave his best friend behind.

"This play ends with the Hero's death." The Dark Diva leveled the microphone at the one with enough courage to remain in the middle of the lion's den. It lit up in her hand like a hot poker. "Everyone loves a Tragedy."

Yosuke looked back. Take everyone and run! A way out of this struck him like lightning. He skid to a halt.

"What are you doing?!" Naoto yelled.

"Everyone... I have to get everyone!" 'Everyone' included Yu. Freed of the order, he turned on his heel and took off at his fastest speed –faster than any normal Human could run, weaving back through the tongue monsters.

Yu stared down the Dark Diva.

"Per..."

The energy beam cut a path through the air right for his chest.

"...so..."

Yosuke leaped in front of his best friend.

"...na."

Yu crushed the card in his hand.

Blue energy swirled around him, lighting up his eyes and pulling from every cell. Above him, the figure of a warrior formed. It held a sword out to its side, becoming more solid as the power exploded from Yu Narukami.

Kanji, Naoto, and Yukiko stared at the giant black-clad samurai that easily dwarfed the enemy.

"Izanagi!" Yu swept his hand out at the threat.

In response, the ethereal warrior spun the sword over his head, and launched himself through the air at the nearest monster. A slash of the blade cleaved it completely in half. Yu thrust his hand up and out. The samurai mimicked the motion. It uppercut the second monster into oblivion, though the third clamped its teeth around his arm.

Yu cried out at the pain shooting through his left arm.

The giant warrior pried the enemy away, ripped its mouth open, and tossed it aside as he circled around. He pierced the last monster through its center clean through the back. The creatures burst into the same sick smoke as their counterparts inside.

Yu and Izanagi both faced shadow Rise. His arm hung limply at his side as he shifted his feet into a more sturdy ready stance. Yu swept his right hand out. His Persona did the same. He flicked his wrist up, keeping his gaze fixed on the Shadow. Izanagi clutched the hilt of the blade in both gloved hands. If he was meant to perish here, then he would go down fighting with every ounce of life he possessed.

Shadow Rise spun the mic above her head and charged, lifting off the ground. The cord of her weapon whipped around Izanagi's neck. She grabbed both ends and pulled hard.

The rubber cable strained as its coils constricted.

Yu clutched at his own crushing throat with his good hand. It strangled him though his Persona was the one taking the hit.

"Eeyah!" The diva jammed her perfectly manicured clawed fingers into Izanagi's chest. "Give me your heart!"

Yu lurched forward as shards of glass dug themselves into his skin. A single word flared in his mind. Zio!

Izanagi clutched the cable. Electricity exploded from his hands, down the wire, right to the Dark Diva.

She saw that coming, though wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough to avoid it. The shock sent her screaming across the courtyard. She slowly staggered to her feet, laughing the whole time. "So, you wanna play? Let's play." Her body grew as she charged Izanagi, spinning the microphone like a bladed ax.

Izanagi dodged, though cut his sword through the air.

The giant shadow back-hand-overed away. She spun in a circle of laughter and rammed her foot across his face.

Both Persona and user lurched to the side in response.

The attacker vaulted into air straight for the samurai with her spinning blade of microphone.

Izanagi met her charge, ducked suddenly, and slashed across her middle.

The evil shadow hit the ground and rolled, shrinking back to her normal size. She grinned up at Izanagi and Yu. Her body flickered the same as the Midnight Channel.

Yu caught his breath and clutched at his chest. The needling pain around his heart gradually faded.

"I just wanted the world to love me," the shadow muttered.

Rise cringed in shame. She spoke, tried to tell them the Shadow was right. She knew she always wanted to be the center of attention, and that the world meant nothing if all eyes weren't on her. But that wasn't all she was. She was caring, and thoughtful. Sadly, she had to accept her shadow's claims. Maybe then it would stop trying to kill the people who'd come to rescue her. She curled up against Kanji.

The Dark Diva sighed happily, closed her eyes, and dissolved into a gray mist.

A small card appeared over Rise's head for a second before blanketing the paralyzed girl with blue light. She shuddered.

Without any other threats, Izanagi lowered his sword and faded back into the soul of his person.

Yu dropped to his knees as he felt his Persona return, then back to rest on his heels. He breathed heavily. His arm hurt like hell, and he was light headed, but he'd used that...thing—his 'Persona,' to deal the final blow. He closed his eyes momentarily. The danger was over...though something still gave him that sense of impending dread.

His eyes shot open. "Yosuke."

The fox demon lay on his side, his tail motionless against the ground.

Yu crawled over the short distance to where his friend landed and ran his hand across the others soft ears. Yosuke didn't move. Shadow Rise's beam had forced the young demon back to his natural, small form. Changing of his own free will the first time had been difficult enough. To be forced back must have been too much to bear. She'd stolen his transformation control in an attack meant to suffer Yu the same fate as Chie.

Yosuke had scarified himself to save his life.

His stoic resolve shattered. Yu scooped up the little fox demon's limp body –baggy shirt and all—into his arms, moving his left despite the pain. I told you to run. Why didn't you listen? Why did you come back? He tapped one finger against his face. Wake up, Yosuke. Yosuke showed no reaction, and Yu couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.His eyes widened. Oh god... Wake up.WAKE UP! He held the small demon he'd rescued two months ago from a rain-soaked box with 'FREE' painted sloppily on the side, and stopped fighting his sorrow.

Though he could still feel the bond, he was terrified it would vanish, and he would -again- be left alone. Yu brushed his palm over his animal demon's head, and tried the one thing he knew his friend wouldn't like, but it was the only chance he had left. He licked his lips, focusing on the full meaning and power of each word. "I am your Bonded," he whispered, "You are my animal demon." Yu let his thumb rest over the little fox's forehead. "I am giving you a direct command...to wake... up." He tightened his hold to protect him, give him energy, whatever he needed. He had to obey the command. That was the rule of the Bonded and their Animal Demon. He didn't know what he would do if he had to walk away and leave his friend alone in this world forever.

Yu lowered his head. "I'm ordering you," his voice quivered as hot tears slid down his cheeks despite his efforts to hold them back. "...to stay."

Naoto walked up behind him, as did the others. Yosuke was already weakened from the battle. Any skill they'd learned before being taken from this world had barely been nurtured. They were both neophytes. If that beam's power was strong enough to incapacitate a healthy, undamaged person, then it's affect could possibly...

She bit her lip. She didn't even want to complete the thought.

Yukiko rested a hand on Yu's shoulder. She could feel him shaking, though he made no sound. She knelt down at his right with the little dog demon in her lap.

Even Kanji –who hadn't known any of these people until this crazy adventure—had to respect this moment. He glanced to the paralyzed Rise in his arms, then to Yu. He could feel her shivering slightly, as though she were crying without the ability to do so. The situation was bad enough as it was. He looked back, about to say something when a blue glow stopped him. "Hey."

Yukiko gasped lightly. "Yu..." She gently squeezed his arm.

Yu only saw the blue light through his closed lids. Curiosity made him open his eyes. He blinked the water away to clear his vision.

A blue card hovered over the fox demon the same as Rise's had done. It pulsed once, then bled its power over his body for a brief moment. Yosuke inhaled deeply as the energy worked to revive him.

Yu didn't know how to react as his heart soared. The bond hadn't disappeared. If anything, it was stronger.

Ow, Yosuke thought. My everything. He turned to look up at Yu's face. Was he crying? Yu never cried for anything. Ever. Not even when someone was cutting up an onion. The universe was off balance. Something horrible must have happened. ...and... he was 15" tall again, but he didn't care. He yipped softly and offered a weak thumbs up with a smirk.

Yu hugged him, smiling though a faint laugh. "You stupid fox. You never listen."

Exhausted, Yosuke rested his head against Yu's shoulder. He yipped softly, telling Yu he was the stupid one for ordering him to leave. There was a loophole in that command: Yu was included in the 'everyone' part.

"Guess I'll have to be more specific next time," He joked.

Yosuke thunked his head against Yu in the best 'bad joke, dumbass' move he had the energy for.

Naoto wiped a tear away, hiding her face under her cap, though she was sure Kanji had seen it. He'd been looking right at her. She glanced up when Yu spoke, though. That whole bit was in their language, and Yu had responded. Their connection had become strong enough that language was no longer a barrier. She would tell her mother everything that happened when they got back. She couldn't wait to explain how they'd rescued Rise, and how they were closer to finding the culprit.

Movement in the distance caught her eye. She turned her sharp vision to the rooftop of the theater. A dog demon of normal Human height stood against the red and black sky. He was watching them. He stared for a good five seconds, flashed her a grin reserved for scientists who'd received favorable test results, and ducked out of sight.

Naoto couldn't believe it. That dog demon had one black ear and solid black eyes. It was the third demon in the box. But what was he doing here? Why was he up there, and why did he look at them like that?

"I think we should get our asses out of here," Kanji spoke up. "I'm glad the little guy's ok, but more of those things could be here any second. You're pretty wicked with that samurai thing of yours, but you look like crap."

Yu got to his feet, carrying the fox demon. Kanji was blunt, but had a point. "Agreed. Let's find a way home. How is she?"

Naoto sighed. She knew this next act meant outing herself completely. In a smooth motion, she removed her hat, exposing her ears, handed it to Kanji, and returned quickly to her natural state in a rush of energy–clothes and all. Unlike Yosuke, she'd had time to perfect the 'change' skill.

Kanji's eyes widened. "I knew it was you! Haha! I'm not crazy!"

Naoto placed one tiny hand on Yukiko's leg, and rested her other hand against Chie's face.

Chie blinked through blurry vision as Naoto spoke. Why did the short boy have ears? Her lip quivered. In that moment she spilled everything she remembered to the cat demon. Naoto listened, nodded, then asked her one more question.

It threw the little canine girl off. Sadly, she shook her head from side to side.

Naoto returned to her Human self and took her hat from Kanji—who still grinned in joy that he wasn't bonkers. "She feels ill. She remembers who she is, that she lives in Inaba, and that her parents own a dojo, but she-"

"-Doesn't know what happened to her, and she doesn't know her name," Yu finished. He'd heard and understood the entire thing.

Naoto sighed her confirmation. "And I think her condition is deteriorating. She needs help."

Yukiko drew her hand down the puppy-Chie's soft ears. "Then we tell her. It was already her name, so logically, the one who says it shouldn't be affected."

"That's a beary good idea if you want to be bound to her."

Everyone turned at the new, cheerful, higher pitched male voice. Even Chie was able to lift her head to see who it belonged to.

A slim boy the same height as Rise strode up to them. His blue eyes sparkled beneath his short, side-swept blond hair, and he wore a ruffled shirt adorned with a single red rose. The wardrobe seemed on the dramatic side, but somehow it worked for him. He moved with confidence and flashed a broad smile. His blue and white round, furry ears twitched. If he had a tail, he was facing them head on so it wasn't visible. Two Human-height animal demons flanked him –one raccoon and a cat, all about his height. They didn't carry weapons, but the energy they emitted was powerful enough to tell anyone they didn't need physical weaponry.

"She has a name of her own, Short Stack," Kanji barked. "Why would calling her something she's already called have any kind of risk?"

"Because, my tall, charming, handsome friend," The chipper boy held up his right index finger, "She's an animal demon now. Just like the last two."

"The last two," Naoto though back to the photos of the previous victims. "Miss Yamano and Saki Konishi. Both had animal demon attributes. They were in a state of partial transformation when they were found."

"You mean someone is doing this to people on purpose? That's messed up." Kanji snarled.

Rise arched an eyebrow at this strange scene. She wished she could move to walk on her own, but at least she had remained awake the whole time.

"We've been trying to find the guy throwing people in here for days."

Kanji's lip twitched upward slightly. He felt like he'd been thrown into Tim Burton's version of a stuffed animal claw game.

Yukiko stood. "Maybe we can talk to them; tell them we want to go home. They might know a way out. Or they can help Rise and... Ugh. I don't feel well." She was starting to feel sick from all this fog.

"That was bear-iffic!" The bear-boy exclaimed, spreading his arms out to the side and spinning on one foot. "The way you used that... thing against that powerful Shadow. What did you call it?"

Yosuke groaned into Yu's jacket.

Yu faltered, "A...Persona." He turned in a slow circle. A small group of animal demons had completely surrounded them while they were talking. The tallest stood just slightly shorter than himself, and the smallest pushed a foot in height. "Who are you?"

The boy kept the smile and bowed deeply. It seemed he felt confident in his present company to take his eyes off the newcomers for a moment. "The name's Teddie. Pleased to meet ya!"

Next Scent: Cursed