"Hey Ted, didn't you say there were a lot of shadows in here?" Yosuke inquired. "Well where are they?"
"Yosuke's right, I don't see anything." Yu agreed while tightening his grip on his katana.
"I'm telling the truth, I really smell the shadows." Teddie repeated. "Oh, but I think I also smell your friend just a little bit farther ahead of us."
"Well if we don't see the shadows I'm not complaining." Yosuke mentioned before a black blob turned around a corner and noticed them. "Oh crap."
"Izanagi." Yu called as his persona appeared above him while the shadow transformed into the same pink and black striped mouth. "Zio."
The moment that word left Yu's mouth, a bolt of lightning struck the shadow destroying it instantly.
"Whoa, thanks man. I guess I'm still not used to this whole thing." Yosuke admitted. "At least we know that those floating mouths aren't a problem."
"Yeah, but there's obviously more than one kind of shadow Yosuke." Teddie explained. "Don't you remember when your shadow showed up?"
"Of course I do, I just meant…" Yosuke started. "Look that's not the point right now, we need to focus on finding Chie before the shadows do."
"Yosuke's right, do you think you can lead us to her Teddie?" Yu asked.
"No problem, leave it to me sensei." Teddie replied before leading Yu and Yosuke farther into the castle.
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"Excuse me, young man do you have a minute?" Adachi inquired while he and Dojima walked up to a group of Yasogami students. "I'm detective Tohru Adachi and wanted to ask you a few questions."
"You mean about what happened to Konishi-sempai?" asked a male student. "Do you know who did it?"
"We were hoping you could help us figure that one out." Dojima mentioned calmly. "Both of the previous victims can be linked back to your school."
"Huh, what do you mean?" asked a female student. "Is the killer at our school?"
"Hold on, you don't think he'd go that far do you?" questioned a second female student.
"So there is someone who might be involved then, what's his name?" Dojima inquired.
"Morooka-sensei, none of the students like him and he definitely doesn't like us either." answered the first male student.
"Do you think we could talk with Mr. Morooka?" Adachi requested just as Morooka walked up to them.
"What's going on here?" Morooka questioned. "Don't you students have anything better to do than loiter around the school?"
"You must be Mr. Morooka, I'm detective Ryotaro Dojima and this is my partner Tohru Adachi do you have a few minutes to talk?" Dojima asked calmly as the students ran off. "We wanted to ask you about the recent incident involving a Yasogami student named Saki Konishi."
"If you're asking if I killed her then no, I had nothing to do with that." Morooka stated bluntly.
"I'm glad to hear that, but if you overheard anything that might help us we'd appreciate any help you can provide." Dojima mentioned calmly.
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"Let's do this Jiraiya, Garu." Yosuke called as his persona appeared and struck another floating mouth with a gust of wind as Yu slashed at a second shadow resembling a hollow, floating pink fish with blue fins.
"Rakunda." Yu stated before Izanagi appeared and a purple glow enveloped the fish shadow and Yosuke sliced it in half.
"This is bad, if these shadows are attacking us this often Chie must be in real danger." Yosuke noted nervously before seeing Yu staring off into space. "Hey, what's wrong with you?"
"Sensei?" Teddie inquired nervously just as Yu suddenly shook his head.
"I'm fine, don't worry about it." Yu replied with a smirk. "Looks like that shadow was guarding this chest, there might be something useful inside."
"Huh, yeah I guess so but shouldn't we focus on…" Yosuke started before Yu opened the chest revealing a small vial filled with a blue liquid.
"Rescuing Chie." Yu finished. "Yeah, we should. I'm starting to doubt she's still on this floor though."
"Now that you mention it, it is weird we haven't seen her anywhere." Yosuke admitted. "Be careful Chie, you have no idea what these things can do."
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"Is that everything you wanted to ask me detectives?" Morooka questioned.
"Yeah, we appreciate your help." Dojima replied before Morooka walked off.
"Well I guess that proves he had nothing to do with the case Dojima-san." Adachi mentioned.
"Maybe, but something tells me we should keep our eyes open for anything suspicious." Dojima noted. "Yukiko Amagi still hasn't been found dead so it's possible the perp is waiting for something."
"Wait, do you mean the second murder was a warning from the perp that they were willing to kill anyone?" Adachi asked.
"I doubt it, after all the first body was found by Saki Konishi so there's a clear connection between the two victims." Dojima pointed out. "Not to mention, how Yukiko Amagi fits into the pattern too. I don't know how much longer we have before the perp decides to kill her too."
"We'll find her and keep her safe Dojima-san, I know we will." Adachi said calmly.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Dojima agreed thoughtfully.
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"Ukobach, Agi." Yu called as a small green imp with a flaming spoon appeared and set a shadow on fire.
"Whoa, since when can you use more than one persona?" Yosuke questioned in shock.
"Who knows, but it makes it easier to deal with the shadows." Yu answered. "Speaking of which, are there any near Chie?"
"I don't think so, I can't smell any shadows near her." Teddie mentioned.
"Hold on, do you think it has something to do with us being here too?" Yosuke asked. "I mean when we were trying to find out what happened to Saki-sempai the shadows ran straight for Yu and ignored you and me."
"You're right, the shadows must be attracted to our personas." Yu noted thoughtfully. "Well except for your shadow."
"Wait, you don't think Chie's shadow could show up and try to kill her do you?" Yosuke inquired nervously. "We need to find her quickly."
The moment Yosuke said that, Yu opened a door revealing a shadow that transformed into a pair of the pink fish shadows.
"More shadows to burn through, Agi." Yu stated with a smirk as Ukobach reappeared and enveloped one of the shadows in flames as Yosuke summoned Jiraiya and had him destroy the other shadow with a gust of wind. "This is almost too easy."
Just as he said that, Yu paused a second time before shaking his head.
"Hey are you sure you're alright?" Yosuke asked hesitantly.
"I think so, but right now we need to focus on finding Chie." Yu mentioned.
"Right, leave it to me sensei. I'll find her in no time." Teddie stated confidently.
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"Do you think we'll learn anything from them Dojima-san?" Adachi asked.
"It's a possibility, and at the very least the connection to the other two victims means anyone who had contact with Yukiko Amagi should have also been able to get in touch with Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi." Dojima stated calmly.
"I know what you mean, we need to make sure we solve the case for both of them." Adachi mentioned as the two of them walked up to the Amagi Inn.
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Adachi" Dojima replied calmly.
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"Are you absolutely sure about this Teddie?" Yosuke questioned. "The last door you led us to had three shadows behind it."
"I'm beary sure Yosuke." Teddie answered confidently. "The stairs are definitely behind this door."
"What about Chie?" Yosuke asked. "Are there any more shadows near her?"
"I don't think so, but…" Teddie started.
"Once we go up there and reach Chie our personas will attract the shadows to us." Yosuke finished. "Not to mention her shadow could show up too. Well we can't worry about that right now, we need to get to Chie."
"Right." Yu agreed before opening the door revealing a staircase. "The sooner we find Chie and Yukiko the better."
After saying that, Yu ran up the stairs with Yosuke and Teddie before reaching a second door and opening it revealing Chie standing in the middle of a large room.
"Look, there she is." Yosuke said. "Chie, are you alright?"
"I always hated my name… Yukiko… 'Snow'. It fits though; apart from inheriting the inn I'm worthless." Yukiko's voice echoed through the room.
"Yukiko?" Chie inquired hesitantly.
"I'm nothing like Chie, she's always been so kind, strong, and outgoing. She's nothing like me at all. I'm so lucky to have a friend like that, without Chie I'd be…" Yukiko's voice echoed. "Chie's the one who helps and protects me without a second thought, not that I deserve any of it."
"Yukiko, is that…" Chie started in shock.
"'Chie's the one who helps and protects me' don't make me laugh." mocked anther voice before a second Chie with yellow eyes suddenly appeared in front of them.
"This is bad, her shadow had to show up now of all times?" Yosuke asked anxiously.
"What's going on, who are you?" Chie questioned. "Were you the one who hurt Yukiko?"
"Me hurt Yukiko, of course not. She's so beautiful, smart, all the guys keep drooling over her." Shadow Chie stated with a smirk. "Yet despite all of that, she's jealous of me. The joy I felt from that was incredible. We both know that I am much better than she is, just the way it should be."
"Shut up, you have no idea what you're talking about." Chie snapped. "Yukiko's my friend."
"This is bad, we need to help her before that thing goes berserk." Yosuke said nervously.
"Yeah, I agree." Yu noted before the two of them started to run towards Chie.
"Stay back, don't come near me." Chie stated quickly.
"Chie, you need to calm down." Yosuke warned.
"This thing isn't me, I would never say something like that." Chie stated defensively.
"Chie wait, don't say anything else." Yu mentioned nervously.
"I'm the one who's pathetic, I can't succeed as a girl or even a person." Shadow Chie mocked. "But still, Yukiko depends on me for everything. I'll never let go of her friendship, she's just too important to me."
"What are you saying, I would never think of Yukiko like that." Chie argued.
"So you're still denying me, that's fine. When this is over I'll be the one left standing, you don't mind do you? After all I'm still you." Shadow Chie stated coldly.
"Shut up." Chie shouted. "You're…"
"Chie wait…" Yosuke started desperately.
"You're not me." Chie yelled angrily.
The moment Chie yelled that, her shadow started to laugh before red smoke enveloped her and Chie lost consciousness.
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"Not that I'm aware of, but you can find Yukiko-chan can't you?" inquired a woman in a kimono. "If anything were to happen to her we would all be…"
"You won't have to worry about that, we promise we'll find Yukiko Amagi and bring her back safely Kasai-san." Adachi answered calmly. "We're doing everything we can to make sure of that."
"Thank you." Kasai stated with a small smile. "After everything that's happened recently just knowing that she'll be safe is so reassuring."
"We understand, and we appreciate all of your help." Dojima noted before walking out of the Amagi Inn with Adachi.
"We need to find her Dojima-san." Adachi mentioned quietly.
"Yeah, I know." Dojima agreed. "Unfortunately we still don't have any leads as to where she could be, nobody out of the ordinary went to the Amagi Inn prior to her disappearance or to the murder of Mayumi Yamano."
"Maybe we're thinking about it the wrong way, what if it wasn't someone out of the ordinary?" Adachi suggested suddenly. "If that was the case maybe the culprit is someone who'd already been to the Amagi Inn prior to the murder."
"That would explain why none of the staff noticed anyone unusual, still if that's the case anyone in Inaba could be a suspect." Dojima pointed out. "Still, it's a place to start at the very least."
(Yu, Yosuke, and Teddie have reached Chie but her shadow has appeared in front of them, meanwhile Dojima and Adachi are attempting to get a lead on the murder case. Next chapter the battle with Shadow Chie will occur. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)