Buildings surrounded them. What was once a rickety, metal platform was now a small, concrete jungle. The clank of impacted metal became the soft thump of shoe on asphalt. Traditional style buildings were all around. They held signs that read out the names of shops, deals, or going out of business notices. The sky was a deep, horrifying red. It made the natural light of everything around them glow a toxic yellow. JoJo, Yosuke, and Teddie scanned the alleys and every other nook and cranny they could find. Their pace was quick and not willing to slow down.
"This place..." Yosuke said aloud, spotting a familiar building, "I think it's the shopping district." His eyes drifted to the Marykyu tofu, a shop he always walked past on his way to Junes. He swallowed the rock in his throat as the sights became more memorable. Daidara's, that weird smithing place with that guy with the weird scar; the Moel gas station; Tatsumi textiles. His skin had ants crawling beneath it.
"I'm scared..." JoJo muttered out, all but forcing her foot in front of the other. She felt blood rush to her face as the realization dawned on her. She wanted to hide again. Even though her classmate was dead, she wanted to run off and leave Yosuke to whatever was lurking in the dark. The realization made her sigh. A small, barely audible one that only she knew she made. JoJo could only stare at the ground as they continued.
"I think she was just up ahead," Teddie announced, his tiny feet squeaking as he stepped. The bear shivered like a leaf on a tree. His large, glass-like eyes were wide, pupils the size of pins. He moaned as they went on, discomfort becoming a spectacle. JoJo and Yosuke stole glances as the bear stared off into the dark corners they preferred to ignore. "I just really hope the Shadows don't show..."
"Dude," Yosuke said, turning his head to the bear. "Just stay calm. We'll snoop around and try to find some stuff, then we'll leave." He prayed that it would be that simple. But a sinking feeling in his gut warned otherwise. His eyes picked up on black figures that vanished moments later. It was impossible to even describe them. The mere moment his eyes caught one, it slipped away before he had time to process it.
"A-Are you su-sure...?" JoJo asked, her voice shaky as usual. In truth, she was more worried about what they'd find at their destination. JoJo could not help but feel that something terrible was about to happen. Her breath was short and hollow, her stomach felt like an oven and a freezer at the same time. She was sure that she heard something slither in the dark, but tried to dismiss it as the atmosphere getting to her.
"Totally," Yosuke said in confidence, "we'll be in and out in no time." He turned to the bear, who begged for a distraction with his jitters. Yosuke put a finger to his chin, remembering what he intended to bring up earlier. "Hey, man, I actually have a few questions about this place."
"This place...?" Teddie asked in confusion, the question mark all but floating over his head. "What about it?"
"Geez, where would I start?" Yosuke muttered to himself. He rubbed his neck with a hand as they stopped in the street, just outside of the local shrine. It didn't have the same smell of water and old wood that the actual shrine did. In fact, all he could smell was a pungent copper that clung to the air. It made every breath sting. "First of all, what even is this place? And why is it in a TV!?"
"I don't know..." Teddie said begrudgingly, his arms drooped and his head lowered in shame. "It's always been like this. Just me and Shadows."
"Al-Always like this?" JoJo asked, her brow furrowed in befuddlement. She felt a button pop on her blouse, sadly just one size too small compared to her usual attire. Actually, now that she thought about it, she had a few questions of her own. They included, but were not limited to, HOW THE LIVING FUCK DID SHE GET THERE!?
But she decided to wait to ask that when they were no longer risking their lives for a big jerk that wouldn't even let her hug him once. It was just going to be for a few seconds...
"Yeah," Teddie, the jerk in question, confirmed. He gave a large nod, more of a headslam than anything, as a visual aid. "The fog stays around a lot too, but sometimes it disappears. The Shadows get really violent when that happens too, so I don't recommend being here when that happens."
"Yet we still don't even know what 'Shadows' are..." Yosuke groaned, rubbing his eyes, his glasses slid up onto his forehead. He tapped his foot as he thought of more questions. But there were so many in his head that it was impossible to think of a good one. The sheer amount of unanswered questions that he wanted to ask drowned his mind. From where the place came from to what Teddie even was, Yosuke had trouble figuring out what to ask.
"Guys..." JoJo said, catching their attention. She was turned facing the Konishi family liquor store. Her eyes wide and full of fear. JoJo turned into an ice statue, unable to move. Her mind struggled to take in the image she saw before her. She raised a rattling, skinny finger as they all saw what she pointed at.
A disgusting, dripping mass of black oil pushed its way through the doors of the liquor store. They didn't even open. It flowed through the bottom of the door, reforming into an orb of putrid fluid as it passed through. Horrid claws took shape as the abomination slid towards them. The ground behind it was moist with fluid, shining in the fluorescent light the street lights bathed the ground in. The creature's mask slipped out of the fluid, surfacing from the oil and brandishing itself on the monster.
"I-Is th-that a Sh-Shadow!?" JoJo sputtered out, unable to lower her arm. Her words attracted its attention, turning its mask to her. It was a strange looking article. It reminded her of those masks indigenous tribes would wear. That thought was smacked out of her head when she realized how close it was getting to her. Those long, horrifying limbs tore at the ground, forcing its way to JoJo.
"Ye-Yeah!" Teddie screamed, running behind Yosuke. The bear covered his ears and shut his eyes, hoping it would just go away. But he knew it was in vain.
"Look out!" Yosuke shouted, grabbing JoJo's sleeve and pulling her just out of reach as the monster slashed at her with its claws. Those jagged, corrupted nails sent chills down his spine when he saw them up close. They pulsated with an energy that he could not describe. All he knew was that they needed to get into the liquor store fast.
Before they could even tell what happened, Yosuke grabbed onto JoJo's hand and ran into the glass double-doors of the liquor store. Teddie followed close behind, turning around to watch the Shadow slither back towards them at a lightning pace. They barely had enough time to close the door before it slammed into the glass, giant cracks splitting through after just one blow. The beast let out a howl that burrowed its way into their brains. It sounded far too alien for either to comprehend. It couldn't even described as animalistic. All three could only pray that the beast would not remember the trick it used to cross the door in the first place.
"I don't think this door's gonna last long!" Yosuke said, looking for anything he could use to block the door. Boxes of booze littered the shelves, all heavy and damn near immobile. If they had the ally of time, they could have used that as a makeshift barricade. However, another strike at the door quickly killed that plan.
"H-Here!" JoJo called from behind the counter. In her raised arm she held a golf-club. The head of it was large and thick, peddling the hope that it would make a somewhat decent weapon. The handle was soft and comfortable, providing the user with a stable swing.
"Seriously!?" Yosuke said as another blow to the door bent the frame, opening a hole for the creature to enter. It pooled into the store, mask locked onto the brown-haired boy as he grabbed the club. "Ah screw it!"
The strikes were wild and uncoordinated. He ended up hitting the ground more than the monster. Small dents in the tile only confirmed that Yosuke's strategy of closing his eyes and flailing his weapon around was a bad idea. Especially when he was sent flying into a stack of beer cans, long claw marks across his chest.
"Yosuke!" JoJo screamed in worry, too scared to move from behind the counter. She watched as the beast clawed its way to her, deciding its new target. "Yosuke!?"
"Hello, JoJo, did you finish your homework, because if not Chie will kick my ass...!" he answered, his voice shaking as he spoke from beneath the pile of cans. Only his feet were visible, the rest of his body covered with cans.
"Oh man..." JoJo squeaked out, seeing the Shadow get closer. Ever slither made her stomach turn. She looked in desperation for the club, unable to spot it from the cans. She laid her back against the counter, hearing the monster drag itself to her.
"I'm don't want to die..." she thought, clutching her knees to her chest. She whimpered as the beast got behind the counter, claws in her field of vision. Tears dripped as she waited for the inevitable strike.
"No!" That powerful voice boomed once again.
All were paralyzed as something unbelievable occurred. The Shadow squealed in pain, retreating through the door as oil spilled onto the floor. It made the entire store stink, more putrid than a rotting animal in an old dumpster. Teddie stared at the teenaged girl, who had one hand raised, the other pinned to the floor. Yosuke picked himself up off the ground, looking over the counter at JoJo.
Her mouth was opened wide, completely aghast at what occurred. What was once her voice only allowed a high-pitched whine to escape. Her eyes were nearly completely white, her pupils mere spots. But what drew their attention more was her arm.
It crackled with electricity...
Sparks flew from her palm while blue bolts of energy shot up her arm. The wall she faced was burnt to cinders. Fire speckled beneath the falling, blackened chips of paint. What was once a calender with a kitten in a tree was now a pile of ash on the floor. They all stared in wonder and horror as the energy snapped and popped. Her once short-sleeved blouse was completely burnt away. She sat on the floor of the liquor store, bra exposed, but she couldn't work up the mental power to be embarrassed.
Instead, they all joined together in one long, nice scream.
"Hu-What!?"
Chie snapped awake on the floor of Junes, a young housewife staring at her in worry. Chie's head remained unclear and full of fluff. Every thought brought pain to her entire being. It took all of her strength to pick herself up. She waved off the other woman's attempt to help, assuring her that she was fine. The stranger gave one final worried gaze before returning to her own day.
"What happened again...?" Chie thought, her memory full of holes.
She remembered something about that bear... and JoJo...
"Gah!" Chie yelped, a hand flying to her temple. It hurt far too much to think. She sat back down on the floor, rubbing her head in desperation for relief. Nails drove into her brain if she so much as squinted. She never imagined such pain in her entire life. Every cell was on fire, yet frozen solid. The smallest noise made her deaf, and the store was pretty fucking noisy, she had to say...
"Th-That's right!" she thought, finally remembering something. Her eyes shot to the television that weird doppelganger threw her and Yosuke through earlier that day. Despite the agony, it was coming back to her. The weird clothes, the push, the bear, the glasses.
"They're still in there!" Chie thought, her head snapping in all directions for a rope.
Meanwhile, back in the television, the trio still screamed.
They screamed for what felt like hours. Their voices still strong and lasting, even despite the volume and intensity.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH YOUR ARM!?" Yosuke shouted, breaking the monotonous harmonizing. He pointed a finger at JoJo's glowing limb.
"I DON'T KNOW!" JoJo admitted, swinging the limb in question, her right arm that sparked and sputtered with electricity, around to face Yosuke.
"WELL DON'T AIM IT AT ME!" he demanded, flying behind the counter himself as a lightning bolt shot across the store, exploding the wall behind him. The attacked section crumbled, exposing the red sky.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOUT!" Teddie cried, running around the store in circles. His squeaks echoed throughout the hauntingly empty store, one after the other in rapid succession.
"THE FACT THAT SHE JUST WENT EMPEROR-FUCKING-PALPATINE ON THAT THING!" Yosuke shot at the bear, smacking him as he crossed his path. The bear was stopped short, falling to the ground and rolling back and forth.
"G-Guys!" JoJo said, her eyes full of fright and tears. "H-Help me!"
"What are we gonna do?" Yosuke quipped sarcastically. "Hook you up to a car battery!?" He had to dodge another bolt of lightning. That one slightly more intentional than the last.
"Why didn't you tell us you knew how to do that!?" Teddie asked, approaching JoJo and staring at her arm. He gave a gasp in amazement, seeing the limb glow brightly in the dimly lit store. "That's so cool!"
"Because I didn't know I could do it!" JoJo said, clutching her limb against herself. Her arm felt strange, to say the least. Every bolt licked her skin, shocking it slightly. The sparks gave her palm a soothing warmth, almost relaxing her. Shooting the lightning sent a tingle down her spine that tickled her. "Wh-What's happening to me!?"
"You've awakened to your true power, dear child," that soothing voice said in her mind. She felt herself relax at its every word, desperate to her more. "So now, you shall control me, and not have I control you."
"Wh-Who are you!?" JoJo asked in panic, not realizing it was out loud. She scrambled to her feet, still unaware of her bare chest at that moment.
"I am Izanagi," the voice said. Its growling tone and diction made it a distinct voice amongst the others she had heard through her life. "I shall guide you as your powers grow. This is just one of many, and you will need to use every one of them in order to survive the ordeals to come."
"What 'ordeals'!?" JoJo thought to herself, trying to swallow a baseball.
"I wish Junes would just go under..." an unfamiliar voice said, sounding like a young woman. She saw Teddie and Yosuke look to the ceiling, scanning around the store as they tried to find the source.
"You shall soon learn..." Izanagi growled out one last time.
"It's all because of that store..." another voice said, this one older than the last, but not elderly.
"Wh-What the-!?" Yosuke said, his mind already exhausted from the last debacle with the Shadow. He wasn't sure if he could handle another scare like that...
"Oh, I heard Konishi-san's daughter works there!" yet another unseen voice chimed in.
"Oh my... how could she with her family business suffering like it is...?"
"I heard their sales went downhill because of Junes."
"St-Stop!" Yosuke shouted. He fell to his knees, his face to the floor.
"That poor father... to have his own daughter working for the enemy like that..."
"What a trouble-some child..."
The words sank in slowly and painfully. Silence once again graced them as they stood, paralyzed. More sparks flew from JoJo's arm, making her go red in the face and clutch it to herself once again. It was so foreign. So alien.
"What's up with this place!?" Yosuke shouted, rising to his feet again. He kicked the cans of beer that rolled in front of him, sending them flying into the darkness of the back of the store.
"Saki!" another voice, this one middle-aged and male, shouted. His tone was vicious, full of venom and rage. "How many times do I have to tell you!?"
"Senpai's... dad?" Yosuke asked aloud, meaning for it to be in his head instead.
"You know what the neighbors are saying, right!?" Saki's father continued his rant. "Why aren't you in the least bit ashamed of yourself!? You're the eldest daughter of a family that's owned this store for generations! Is it for the money? Or did you meet some guy there? Just tell me why it had to be there of all places!"
"N-No!" Yosuke shouted, throwing one of the cans into the blackness. "She had fun at work! If she was having problems like this, she'd tell us!" He picked up another can, readying his arm for another throw. "You expect me to believe that this was how Senpai really saw things!?"
He tilted his body back, ready to send the aluminum can of alcohol flying into the abyss that was the other half of the store. Even the hole in the right corner of the shop couldn't make a dent in the blackness. It was as though someone blotted out that section with ink, blinding anyone that ventured deeper. His foot slipped on something. Stopping himself from falling to the floor, he slid the culprit to his view.
It was a tattered photograph. Yosuke picked up and examined it. It was him and Saki posing with the other Junes employees for a group picture. Yosuke wore his trademark grin while Saki held up a peace sign, smiling into the camera. Yosuke saw a large chunk of the right corner was torn off, nearly taking Saki's head off with it. Yosuke, who was to her left, had a large, black dot covering the top half of his face, only his mouth was visible and showing his smile.
"What the...?" Yosuke asked as he studied the picture. His eyes drifted to the floor, trying to spot the missing piece. The other two stared at him in wonder as he tried to find the other half of the photograph.
"I never got the chance to say it..." They all heard a familiar voice say.
"S-Saki!?" Yosuke said, clenching the picture in his fist as his gaze shot back to the ceiling.
"I always wanted to tell Hana-chan..."
The pause was torturous. They sat on pins and needles as they waited for her next words.
"That he was a pain in the ass!"
"Ouch..." JoJo said, looking towards Yosuke. The boy stood as still as a statue, taking the words to heart. He didn't have so much as a frown. Only a blank slate covered his face, completely in shock.
"I was only nice to him because he was the manager's son, and he went and took it completely the wrong way... what a dip!"
"N-No..." Yosuke stood firm, his fists held tight. He stood tall, refusing to accept what he was hearing. "Senpai's not like that. None of this can possibly be true!"
"Who cares about Junes anyway!? Thanks to that place my whole family hates me, the neighbors talk behind our back, our business is ruined, and everyone thinks I'm a traitor! … I just want everything to disappear..."
"Bullshit!" Yosuke shouted, his teeth grit. He picked the club up off the ground, swinging it into one of the shelves. Booze of all kinds flew through the air as Yosuke released his rage. "This is all just some kinda trick! Saki's not like that, I know she isn't!"
A dark aura was felt. They all turned to the black corner of the store, seeing one of the tossed cans roll its way back into the light.
"~It's so sad...~" a warped, cackling voice said. It left the darkness, exposing itself to the group.
Yosuke couldn't find the words to describe a single sensation he felt. His hands shook, mind faltered, legs turned to gelatine.
Teddie whimpered, hiding behind the counter as soon as the figure arrived. His small squeaks echoed in the store.
JoJo had a reaction that summed it up pretty well.
"AH!" she screamed, aiming her glowing arm at the figure. "EVIL YOSUKE!"
The bolt she sent out flew through the air. The hairs on everyone's neck stood straight as the wave of energy cracked through the open space.
Unfortunately, the figure merely lifted his hand, allowing the bolt to hit it and sent it flying back through the already open hole in the back of the store.
It was just as JoJo described. The being in front of them mimicked Yosuke in almost every way. The same uniform, the same hairstyle, the same snide grin, even the same headphones. The only difference between the two was that the sadistically smiling one had bright, piercing yellow eyes. And all around him, a dark wave of energy flowed around him. It took all they could to look at him and not lose their nerve.
"~Nice tits, by the way~," the second Yosuke said, being the first to address JoJo's lack of a shirt.
"What the...?" the girl in question looked down, confirming that she wore nothing on her top half but her black, lace bra.
"KYYYYAAAAA!"
A/N
Got another chapter done. Yay.
Also, Happy New Year! Can't Believe the Earth is already 18 and totally legal!
But anyway, now you see what I mean by changing what the Personas did with JoJo. It's gonna be fun, so I won't spoil nothing. Just know that some may not be as obedient as others.
Also, I included a reference to DBZ Abridged, for you kids that like that thing. You whipper-snappers...
Until Next Time!