"The inside of this place looks just like the real thing too..." Yosuke said as he and the others looked around the interior of the liquor store. "It's too unreal..."
Hamuko didn't really know what the inside of a liquor would look like, but judging from all the various crates and bottles of alcohol, it would seem that this is what one would look like. Still, the creepiness and the overall oppressive atmosphere that existed outside was apparent inside too. If the dark lighting didn't reinforce that aspect, the voices that started shouting from nowhere did.
"How many times do I have to repeat myself, Saki?" shouted a man's voice.
Yosuke looked visibly startled. "Is that Senpai's dad?" he asked as he looked around.
"Don't you know what everyone's saying about you?" continued the voice. "You should be ashamed of yourself! The eldest daughter of this store working at Junes! Is it the money, or some guy that works there? Just tell me why you have to work at Junesof all places!"
Yosuke looked even more despondent after hearing this. "It doesn't make sense... She always looked like she enjoyed working at Junes."
Hamuko looked at Yosuke. "She never brought anything like this up?" she asked him.
Yosuke shook his head. "Not to me. She never mentioned anything like this at all. She...This is how she truly saw things?"
Souji was looking something over at the check-out counter when he motioned for the others to join him. "Hey guys look at this!"
Yosuke and Hamuko rushed over to him to see what he wanted to show them.
"Hmm? These are pictures that were taken a few days ago," said Yosuke as he and Hamuko joined Souji. "It's me and her with the other part-timers at work."
Hamuko pointed out the obvious problem with the pictures. "Why are they cut up like they are?"
"I-I don't know," said Yosuke. "It doesn't make sense. Why would-"
Another voice cut off Yosuke's sentence. A voice that Hamuko recognized. It was Saki's.
"You know, I never had the chance to say it..." spoke Saki's voice in a sad tone.
"It's...Senpai!" said Yosuke as he looked around, vainly trying to locate the source.
"I always wanted to tell Hana-chan...that I can't stand him, and that he was a pain in the ass!" continued Saki's voice, this time with a degree of anger.
"What?..." Yosuke seemed generally shocked upon hearing this. "That couldn't be true!"
"He was the manager's son, so that's why I was nice to him and kissed his ass all the time!" fumed Saki's voice. "But of course he just took it the wrong way and got all worked up... What a dumbass!"
"A...Dumbass?" trailed Yosuke. He looked like he was in shock.
"Ugh, who cares about Junes," groaned Saki's voice. "Because of that place, our business is ruined, my parents and my neighbors hate me... ugh. I wish everything would just... disappear.
Yosuke had heard enough. "Senpai's not like that!" he cried out. "There's no way she'd say stuff like that!"
Before either Hamuko or Souji could say anything to him, another voice began to speak out from behind them.
"Aww...It's so...horrible. I feel sooo sorry for myself!"
"?" The group turned to face the source of the voice. It belonged to...Yosuke? It certainly looked like him, from his uniform to his face and posture. Even the headphones were the same. He didn't have the glasses on either. But something seemed off...His eyes were yellow, and it seemed like there was some strange aura to him. Not to mention there was a strange tamber to his voice as well.
"What's this?" asked Hamuko as she did a double-take. "There's another Yosuke?"
"You know, it's pretty funny, actually. I'm the one who thinks everyone's a pain in the ass!" chuckled 'Yosuke'.
The real Yosuke approached his doppelganger. "Who are you?" he asked. "I wouldn't think stuff like that!"
The other Yosuke simply laughed. "Sure, sure! Keep telling everyone that! The shopping district and Junes can just go to hell! Everything sucks, especially living out in the middle of nowhere!"
Yosuke seemed even more agitated after hearing this. "What are you talking about? That's not true!"
At the same time the unknown figure that had followed the group into the store had hidden among the shelves and boxes near the back, careful not to draw any attention. Upon the appearance of the other 'Yosuke' , the figure became a bit more concerned.
Shadow detected. Class C. Threat level moderate. It doesn't resemble any of the ones I've seen before though. I'd better not let my guard down though. Let's see what happens for now...
She watched as the other Yosuke goaded the real one on.
"You do a good job of looking all happy and carefree, but it's only because you're afraid of being alone." The other Yosuke smirked as he continued. "That's how it is with you right? You gotta be surrounded by people so you don't feel so alone! Oh, and don't get me started on why you checked out this world. You said it's for Saki-senpai's sake but I know the real reason why you came!"
The real Yosuke shook his head, as if to erase what he had just heard. "Stop it! Shut up!"
The other Yosuke's smirk only widened as he saw his counterpart's panicked reaction.
"Why so nervous huh? I thought I was blabbing random crap around! Or maybe... it's because I do know everything that you're thinking! And why would that be? It's because I am you!"
"T-that's not true!" shouted Yosuke, sounding even more unnerved. This only seemed to encourage the other Yosuke to continue.
"You're only here for kicks anyway! I mean what else is there to do in this run-down shithole of a town right? Just think about it! A world inside the TV! Now that's exciting isn't it? You had no other reason for coming here did you?"
"Stop it! None of that's true!" shouted Yosuke. It seemed to Hamuko like he was about to become unraveled at any second. Before she could say anything, the other Yosuke continued.
"You were just trying be a big deal, that's all," he said as he crossed his arms in front of him. "If everything went your way, hey maybe you'd even be a hero! Oooo and that Senpai you were crushing on... Her death really was the perfect excuse, wasn't it?"
Yosuke had had enough at this point. "No, none of that's true at all! Who are you? What are you?"
The other Yosuke simply laughed and shrugged. "Weren't you listening? I already told ya. I'm you. Your shadow. I know everything there is to know about you."
The real Yosuke gritted his teeth in anger upon hearing this. "Not a chance! I don't know you at all! You...You can't be me you rotten miserable son of a bitch!"
"H-hey Yosuke, calm down..." pleaded Hamuko. She never thought someone like Yosuke would be able to get so worked up like he was now; it was rather frighting to her.
Yosuke shook his head. "No way! That isn't me! You hear me? You're not me! You're nothing like me!"
The other Yosuke's smile turned into a malicious grin upon hearing Yosuke's continued insistence that they were not the same.
"You're right," he said as a dark glow began to emanate from him. "I'm not you anymore. I'm...something far worse now!" Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, several Shadows began to converge upon the other Yosuke, who's dark glow grew larger and brighter as more and more Shadows gathered and attached themselves onto him.
"!" The unknown figure tensed up upon witnessing the event. The Shadows are merging with that one in particular! The readings are spiking everywhere! H-how is this possible?
The glow intensified to the point where Hamuko and the others could no longer look at what was happening. A few moments later she gasped as she saw Yosuke suddenly faint and collapse to the floor.
Rushing to him, she tried shaking him to rouse him but the action was in vain.
"Looks like he couldn't handle the truth!" boomed a loud voice where the other Yosuke had been. Hamuko looked up nearly screamed at the sight she saw. It was no longer the near perfect copy of Yosuke that stood before her, rather it was a terrifying monstrosity in its place. Its size was at least two stories tall, and that was the least frightening part about it. It had the body of some kind of sinister-looking frog that was colored in a green camouflage pattern. In the middle of its body protruded the upper torso of what appeared to be some kind of nightmarish ninja, its body black with huge yellow gloves, a red scarf and large yellow shurikens for eyes. If she were anywhere else she would have thought that this was some kind of cheap movie prop, but unfortunately, that was not the case.
The unknown person nervously remained hidden as the new monster revealed itself.
A Class A Shadow? N-no! I can't beat something that powerful, even with that boy who summoned that Persona earlier. W-what do I do? Do I leave them to their fate? Or do I...
"I am a Shadow," said the new other Yosuke as he slowly approached the group, knocking over shelves and boxes as he did so. "The true self. I'll crush everything that bores me...Starting with you all!"
"Ohmygodohmygod," gasped Hamuko as she watched Shadow Yosuke slowly get nearer. "S-souji-kun what do we do?"
Souji looked at her and then back at Shadow Yosuke and slung the golf club he was holding over his shoulder. "I'll fight him and beat him senpai." he said without a hint of worry or fear. "Not many other choices are there?"
Hamuko watched as a blue card appeared in Souji's hand; it was the same one that appeared when he had fought the Shadows outside of the store. He crushed the card and uttered the word "Persona!" as he did so, causing it to disappear. Once again, the large being that had appeared previously materialized in front of him. Hamuko remembered that Souji had called it Izanagi.
"Be careful Sensei!," shouted Teddie from somewhere nearby. Hamuko turned to see that he was peeking out from behind a stack of crates a few yards away from her. "This Shadow is a lot stronger than ones you fought earlier, so look out!"
As if to prove the point, when Souji's Persona moved to engage Shadow Yosuke, the latter released a huge blast of wind, causing Izanagi to stagger backwards, and Souji himself took a few steps back.
"Ha ha ha!" laughed Shadow Yosuke. "How long can you last? I bet you won't even last five minutes!"
Souji did not respond; he simply righted himself, and as he did so Izanagi did the same. Hamuko saw that he still kept his usual calm and cool composure; how he was able to was beyond her.
"Come on, come on!" Shadow Yosuke jeered as he watched Souji and Izanagi stand back up. "Gimme your best shot!"
Souji was more than happy to take the offer and used Izanagi to blast Shadow Yosuke with a Zio spell. The resulting electrical shock caused the monster to suddenly jolt and flip over onto it back.
"Arg, what the hell?" The ninja half of Shadow Yosuke was pinned beneath the frog portion and was none too happy about it. It was even less happy about Izanagi ramming its shoulder into him as well as Souji taking a few swings of his own with his golf club on the frog portion.
The advantage didn't last long though, as Shadow Yosuke managed to knock the two of them back and right himself.
"Grr, I guess it won't be so easy after all," growled Shadow Yosuke as he backed up a few steps, the ground rumbling a bit as he did so. "Good, I was afraid this would be over too fast! Time to up the ante a bit dontcha think?"
Hamuko suddenly heard scratching sounds from nearby and turned to see several black ooze -like Shadows crawling towards her and the unconscious Yosuke.
"S-souji!" she called out. Souji turned to see what was wrong and the moment he did, Shadow Yosuke too the initiative.
"What are you looking at dumbass?" he asked as he emitted another blast of wind at Izanagi and Souji. This time the blast sent both of them to the ground. Shadow Yosuke them jumped on top of Izanagi and began to throttle him with the ninja half. Souji suddenly grabbed at his throat as if he was the one being choked. It wasn't long before he fell to his knees as he struggled to breathe.
Hamuko wanted nothing more than to help him, but the Shadows that now separated the two of them made that impossible. It didn't help that the Shadows were getting closer and closer. She gripped her hockey stick tightly, not knowing how she was going to defend herself against these things.
"S-sensei, are are you okay?," Teddie called out. "Come on, fight back!"
"Bwahaha! I guess you weren't too much of a challenge at all!" laughed Shadow Yosuke as he continued his chokehold on Izanagi and by extension Souji as well. "Too, bad! I was hoping to have a little fun! I guess- oof!"
His sentence was interrupted as he was suddenly knocked backwards.
"Nrg? What was that?" fumed Shadow Yosuke as he looked around. To his and everyone else's surprise, a second large being similar to Izanagi had appeared. It was mostly female in the fact that even though there was no tangible body it was dressed in a white wedding gown and long gloves, but instead of a head was a large red and pink butterfly.
"Huh? That looks like a Persona! Where did it come from?" asked Teddie as he watched Izanagi and Souji stand back up.
His question was answered a moment later when the Shadows that were closing in on Hamuko suddenly skittered off and another person ran up to her. At least Hamuko thought it was a person at first. Upon closer inspection, the person appeared more like a robot than anything else. It appeared feminine with black armor plating on its chest arms and legs. It didn't have any feet either; the legs simply ended at a point. The right arm also had a white covering over it, making it stand out a bit more. It also wore colorful wrist guards and some kind of armored skirt that stood out in contrast to the dark color of its body. The head and face was obscured by an equally colorful red visor. In its hands was a large golden colored staff of some type.
"You should get back," said the robot-girl to Hamuko. Its voice was indeed female, as if belonging to a young teenage girl. She turned towards Shadow Yosuke who was looking at Izanagi and the new Persona. "This Shadow... It's a lot stronger than it's letting on."
Souji wipe a bit of sweat off his face before looking at her. "What? Wait, who are you?"
"Later," said the robot-girl without even looking at him. "Focus on the fight."
Reinforcing her point was the fact that Shadow Yosuke was stomping toward their Personas.
"...Okay," said Souji as he turned back to Shadow Yosuke.
"Two on one? That hardly seems fair," scoffed Shadow Yosuke. "Whatever, I'll stomp both your asses into the ground!"
"Let's do it, Psyche!" shouted the robot-girl as she pointed at the monster. The new Persona rushed at Shadow Yosuke and created a blast of wind from its hands. To their surprise Shadow Yosuke didn't seem affected at all by this.
"Ha! That's not gunna work!" he said as he swatted Psyche away with the ninja half. The robot-girl staggered a bit when this happened.
"Ugh, wind doesn't work so well on this guy..." she muttered. "I'll have to do this the old fashioned way then. Psyche that's enough!" The Persona backed away from Shadow Yosuke and then dematerialized.
Shadow Yosuke laughed when this happened and turned to the robot-girl. "Done already? I'm disappointed!"
"Don't bet on it," responded the robot-girl as she raised her weapon and pointed it at him. "Hey, guy are you going to help or not?"
"Oh, right," replied Souji as if suddenly remembering that he needed to fight. Recalling that the Zio attack caused Shadow Yosuke trouble earlier, he used Izanagi to cast the spell again.
"Nargh!" Shouted Shadow Yosuke as he stumbled backwards and fell down. Seizing this chance, the Robot-girl and Souji both attacked him, the former with her weapon on the ninja half, and the latter with his as well as Izanagi on the frog part.
Hamuko watched as the pair seemed to finally have the upper hand on Shadow Yosuke, not realizing that the Shadows that had run away earlier from the robot-girl's appearance had returned.
"H-Hamuko-chan, look out!" warned Teddie as he was the first to notice this.
"?" She wheeled around to see that she was completely surrounded by several blob-like Shadows. "Ahh!" She couldn't help but let out a scream as she realized the predicament she was in.
"Senpai!" Souji turned to her and briefly halted his attack. The pause was enough to allow Shadow Yosuke to recover. The ninja half grabbed the robot-girl in its massive hands while the frog part rammed Izanagi into the nearby wall. This sent Souji staggering backwards as well. Shadow Yosuke wasn't finished either. He began to stomp on Izanagi, causing Souji to double over in pain. The ninja half began to squeeze the robot-girl, who gave out a cry of pain.
A robot that feels pain? Hamuko thought it was rather odd to think about such a thing considering the predicament she was in. That thought didn't last long either as one of the Shadows that had closed in on her took a swipe at her with a blob-ish hand. Hamuko swung at it with her hockey stick to fend it off, but her weapon simply rebounded back at her and whacked her in the forehead.
"Ow..." she cried out.
"Aww, that was nothing," laughed Shadow Yosuke as he continued to attempt to crush the robot-girl. "How about this?"
He released another blast of wind that sent Hamuko flying into the wall behind her. She hit it hard and her handbag came open, spilling its contents on the floor, with her falling to her knees next to it.
"Ugh..." she tried to gather her bearings and saw that the Shadows that had surrounded her were now just a few feet away. Her hockey stick was nowhere to be seen and the only thing she had at hand was the Evoker that had fallen out of her handbag.
She quickly grabbed it and pointed it at the Shadows and shut her eyes. What good is this going to do? She frantically wondered as she tried to steady her shaking hands. Mitsuru-san said it wasn't real. It won't do anything. I'm..I'm going to die right here aren't I?
It was then she felt the sudden urge to point it...at herself.
"H-hamuko-chan, what are you doing?" gasped Teddie when he saw her doing this.
As she pressed the barrel of the Evoker on the right side of her head, she could feel her pulse quickening, her breathing was heavier, and she was sweating profusely. She looked up and she felt a strange smile form on her lips, much like Souji had done outside the store. She opened her mouth and uttered a single word.
"Per..so...na." And pulled the trigger on the Evoker.
As soon as she did, it felt like her mind was simultaneously being torn apart and crushed inwards at the same time. A few seconds later, a large figure appeared in front of her, similar to Souji's and the robot-girl's Persona but different all the same. It was dressed in black riot police gear with the exception of its arms and hands, which were covered in bandages, as was the face. It reminded Hamuko of the patients in the burn ward of the hospital she was in. It wore a helmet, and long red hair streamed out form behind it. In its left hand it held a riot shield and in its right hand was a police baton.
"Janna D'arc!" Hamuko spoke the name that seemed to just come into her head. Looking at the Shadows ahead of her she willed her Persona to action. Bashing one with her shield and clubbing another with her baton, the Persona made short work of them. The other Shadows quickly crawled away, leaving just Shadow Yosuke to worry about.
"Wowee, your Persona is super cool, Hamuko-chan!" cheered Teddie. "Now go help Sensei and the girl!"
Hamuko nodded and willed Janna to attack Shadow Yosuke. The ground rumbled as Janna charged straight at Shadow Yosuke and rammed into him with her shield, causing him to reel back and off o f Izanagi as well as loosening his grip on the robot-girl, who managed to free herself and dropped to the ground.
Souji used the opportunity to recover and had Izanagi stand back up.
"Arg, get off me bitch!" fumed Shadow Yosuke as he struggled with Janna, who was pinning him against the wall with her shield.
"Souji-kun, hit him with that lightning attack!" shouted Hamuko as she struggled to keep her bearings while controlling her Persona.
Souji nodded and shouted "Zio!", causing Izanagi to send another lightning attack at Shadow Yosuke.
"S-stop it dammit!" shouted Shadow Yosuke as the lightning attack jolted him while still being pinned to the wall by Janna. The robot-girl didn't appear to hear his plea as she smashed the ninja half on the head with her weapon.
"N-nooo!" Shadow Yosuke squirmed a bit before falling onto the ground. As he did, a black smoke covered it.
By this time the real Yosuke had woken up and watched as Shadow Yosuke reverted back into its human form, who was now on one knee.
Exhausted, Souji and Hamuko dismissed their Personas and rejoined Yosuke as did Teddie from his hiding spot. The robot-girl walked off to a nearby wall and sat down.
"Are...you okay Yosuke-kun?" asked Hamuko, even though she herself didn't feel all that great.
Yosuke nodded weakly. "Yeah..I think so. What happened?" Before anyone could answer, Shadow Yosuke stood back up and silently stared at his counterpart.
Yosuke shook his head, still vainly trying to deny what the Shadow had said earlier.
"You're... not me," he said, without any conviction at all.
"Yosuke, that Shadow came from you," explained Teddie. "You have to accept it, or it might go out of control again."
"But, I..." Yosuke still didn't want to admit the fact that the Shadow wasn't lying and turned away from him.
Souji walked up to him. "You're still yourself, Yosuke. We don't think any less of you, right senpai?"
Hamuko nodded. "That's right. Yosuke-kun's still Yosuke-kun in my book."
"Still myself..." trailed Yosuke as he sighed, turning back to his Shadow. "Damn, it hurt to have to face yourself. Yeah I knew it was telling the truth, but...I was too ashamed to admit it. You're me... And I'm you. That's pretty much it huh? All of this...is me."
Shadow Yosuke nodded silently, and then disappeared. In his place was something that looked like a Persona. Hamuko was too tired to really get a good look at it though, and it too disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.
"So...this is my Persona," he said as he looked back at the others and shook his head. "You know, when we heard Saki-senpai's voice earlier...I wonder if that's what she had been keeping to herself all this time." He gave a bitter chuckle. " 'He was a pain in the ass' huh? Gee what an embarrassing way to find out. If you and senpai weren't here... I don't know what would have happened. Thanks, you guys."
Souji and Hamuko nodded.
"Well, it wasn't just us you know," trailed Hamuko as she pointed at the robot-girl, who was still sitting down and looking away from the group.
"Who is she?" asked Yosuke.
Souji shrugged. "I don't know. She just showed up in the middle of the fight."
Before anyone else could say anything, Teddie walked up to her.
"Um, hi," he said. "I'm Teddie. What's your name?"
The robot-girl looked at him, the visor still covering her face.
"...Metis," she said, with some hesitation. A moment later, the visor retracted to the top of her head, revealing a very human looking face.
"So who are you exactly?" asked Yosuke as he looked at her. "...Or what are you might be the better question."
"Yosuke-kun don't be rude!" fumed Hamuko as she smacked him on the back of his head.
"Hey, I was just saying what was on everyone's mind!" argued Yosuke. "I mean look at her. Is she a robot or something else?"
"...I don't know," said Metis as she looked back at the ground, a forlorn look on her face.
"But you can summon a Persona, and even know how to fight Shadows," Souji pointed out. "How come?"
Metis continued to stare at the ground. "I don't know how, I just can," she said. "Almost all of my memory data is damaged or corrupted. All I know is my name and how to fight Shadows, that's it."
"So in other words, you don't really know what you are huh?" asked Souji.
Metis nodded without saying anything.
"Hmm now what?" asked Yosuke.
Teddie thought for a moment before answering. "You guys all look pretty worn out. This place isn't meant for humans, so it can't be good for you all to stay here for such a long period of time. I think we should go back."
The rest of the group nodded and stood still Hamuko asked the obvious question.
"What about Metis?"
"?" Metis looked at the group quizzically.
"Why don't we take her with us to the entrance?" suggested Teddie. "It's gotta be better than staying here all alone, right?"
"All...Alone..." It was odd, but it seemed to Hamuko that Metis shivered slightly when she repeated those words.
Souji shrugged. "I don't mind. At least you'll have some company when we go back to our world, right?"
Hamuko nodded. "Plus she did help us out."
Yosuke also nodded in agreement. "I'm down with it."
"So how about it?" asked Teddie.
Metis slowly stood up and looked at the group for a moment before giving her response.
"...Okay."
…
The trip back to the entrance was a silent one, partly due to exhaustion and partly due to the fact that no one really wanted to bring up what had just happened. It wasn't until they had returned to the entrance that Yosuke spoke up.
"Hey Teddie, you said that this place is reality for those that enter here right? So the shopping district and the store, and that weird room we saw the other day, Did they exist because the people who died entered this world and it became their reality?"
Teddie shrugged. "I don't really know. It's the first time it's ever happened before. But it seems likely that's where they were when the Shadows attacked them. You know I sensed people here twice before. But both of them disappeared when the fog lifted. Also, the Shadows here are originally born from humans so that's why you saw one come out of you, and it was probably the same for them."
"So to recap," said Hamuko. "Saki, and the reporter lady were thrown in here. Since they were stuck here, they just wandered around here."
"Then after some time, one of those Shadow things came out them, like in my case," continued Yosuke. "The fog cleared and it went berserk and eventually killed them... Does that sound right to you guys?"
Souji nodded. "That being said, if you were here when the fog had lifted, we probably wouldn't have stood a chance against your Shadow."
"That's probably true," said Teddie. "Because the fog is still here, the Shadow wasn't at its full strength."
Yosuke let out an angry grunt. "So senpai and that announcer- they were stuck here all alone and with no one to help or save them!"
"That may be true, but until the fog lifted, they should have been safe," said Metis. "The Shadows shouldn't have attacked them."
"Huh, I was about to say that," said Teddie. "How come you know so much about the Shadows?"
Metis shook her head. "I don't know. I just...do."
"But wait, they attacked us," pointed out Hamuko. "And it's still foggy. So why?"
Teddie shrugged. "Maybe they're keeping an eye on us? Maybe they see us as enemies now because we were investigating. It'll probably be dangerous and scary but me might be able to fight them! We can save people too!"
"You mean if someone else gets thrown in here, we can save them before they die?" asked Yosuke. "Like how you all saved me?"
Teddie nodded.
"Well, good!" said Yosuke, his mood improving. "But we still need to find the person throwing people in here in the first place and make them stop."
"It is starting to make some sense..." said Hamuko.
"So, what about you Teddie?" asked Metis. "Where did you come from? I haven't heard much about you at all, just the humans."
Teddie looked at the ground for a moment before answering.
"You know, I was wondering that myself," he said. "I mean, I know some things- mostly about this world, but nothing about myself really. I really haven't given it any real thought until now. Maybe one of you guys have an idea?"
"How should we know?" asked Yosuke. "...At least now I know why we couldn't get a straight answer from you."
"Yeah...," sighed Teddie. "Oh, right. I should let you guys out huh? But...will you guys come back here?"
Hamuko nodded. "I know I will. We made a promise!"
Yosuke gave Teddie a smile. "Hey, you were the one who said you weren't letting us out unless we helped right?"
Teddie gave an enthusiastic nod. "Yeah, yeah that's right! Okay, I'll let you guys out, but there is one thing. I'll wait for you guys here. That means you have to enter this world from the same place every time so we can meet up."
"Oh, from the TV at Junes?" asked Hamuko.
"But why?" asked Souji.
"Well you could enter from another place, but you won't wind up here. You may just end up in a place where I can't get to you. Then you'd be doooooooomed. Okay?"
Yosuke nodded. "Pretty much, I guess.
"Wait about you Metis?" asked Souji.
The robot-girl shrugged. "I'll stay here with the bear. Maybe we can figure some things out while you all are gone."
"Sounds okay by me," agreed Teddie. "Who can complain about having a cute girl keeping you company?"
"C-cute?" asked Metis as she quickly turned away from Teddie and the others.
"Okay, okay enough stalling, let's get you guys to the exit!" said Teddie. Like the last time, he stomped his foot on the ground and a series of small TVs appeared out of nowhere. The group then stood in front of them.
"Hmm, it's probably a good idea to make sure none of the employees are standing around out there.." mused Yosuke.
"Yeah, I'm not sure how we'd expl-" Souji began. His sentence was suddenly cut short as Teddie shoved him and the other two through the TVs.
"Was that necessary?" asked Metis as she watched Teddie finish shoving Yosuke through.
Teddie shook his head. "Nope! But it sure is fun to do! Hee hee!"