Chapter 37: Red rage
Yukiko´s Shadow, wearing her pink princess gown, had just now appeared in the room.
"Hello, Yukiko...!", the Shadow happily said with its distorted voice. Original and Shadow stared at each other while the fight between the rest of the group and the other smaller Shadows continued. Yosuke had managed to get to Teddie by now and tried to heal him with `Dia´ as much as possible.
"Yukiko! Get a hold of yourself!", Souji shouted, trying to get to her, but getting knocked back by a giant teddy bear.
"Y... Y-you´re... me...", Yukiko stammered.
"Oh ho ho ho ho!", Shadow Yukiko giggled. "It seems the sweet little one has learned a thing or two since our last meeting."
"Wh-what...?"
"But just saying it isn´t enough, princess.", Yukiko´s Shadow snarled. "You have to really mean it."
"I-I know that you´re me!", Yukiko said hesitantly.
"Nooo~! All you knowis that I´ll go berserk if you say anything else!", her Shadow laughed at her, grinning gloatingly. "Ooooh, poor me~! Look at me, everyone! I´m suuuch a poor girl!"
"N-no... not this time...", Yukiko mumbled, her heart starting to beat faster and faster in fear, and tried to plug her ears.
"My mother, that stupid cow!", Shadow Yukiko snarled. "It´s all her fault that my life is so miserable! I deigned to do her the favour of taking over the inn, I even wanted to study in order to prepare myself for it! And what´s her answer to my efforts?! She just throws me away like garbage! That monster!"
"Stop it!", Yukiko screamed.
"Megido!", Naoto shouted, aiming at Yukiko´s Shadow.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho!", the Shadow only laughed while the attack didn´t do anything to her.
"What?!"
"Shadows can´t be... hurt as long... as they´re in this form...", Teddie groaned, having regained consciousness, and healed himself completely.
"What do you mean?!", Chie asked while galactic punting a Ken doll.
"It´s currently in a state between Shadow and Persona!", Teddie explained and dodged another Ziodyne attack. "They can´t be harmed as long as they are in that state! The only one who can end it now is Yuki-chan!"
"You gave it your all, and now you´ve lost everything.", Shadow Yukiko continued her spiteful speech. "You´re finished! You have nothing left, my dear Yukiko!"
"No... I... I still have my... my...", Yukiko started.
"Your what? Your friends?!", Shadow Yukiko interrupted her. "Hah! And how exactly is that fact going to help you?! Can they guarantee you a save future?! Can they make up for all those years you´ve wasted licking your mother´s shoes?! No!"
"How da--?!", Yukiko started, but hurriedly stopped and only shook her head, near tears.
"Yes? Yes? What was that?", her Shadow dug deeper. "Come on~! You either accept me or not! What´s it gonna be?"
"Tatsumi! How long until you´re finally finished!?", Naoto snapped at Kanji who had to restart the puzzle for about nine times already.
"Well... Ya see...", Kanji only stammered while the `Game Over´ screen appeared on the monitor again.
"Ugh!", Naoto groaned and dodged a baby riding an unicycle that had tried to clobber her one with its over-sized rattle.
"Come on already! We don´t have all day! Just tell them what you had to go through after your little `adventure´had ended a few years ago! Cough it up!", Shadow Yukiko suddenly shouted.
"You... You´re...", Yukiko stammered.
"Yukiko! Please, don´t!", Chie pleaded.
"YOU´RE ME!!!", Yukiko screamed.
"... *Snrk*... Oho... Ohohohoho... *snrk* Not, that´s too... ahahahaha... that´s just too much... *snrk* BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!", her Shadow laughed and fell to the ground where it laughed its ass off.
"Wh-what...?!"
"`You´re me!´, is what your mouth is saying! `You´re NOT me!´, is what your heart is saying!", Yukiko´s Shadow continued to laugh while the other smaller Shadow started to dissipate into black fog that started flowing towards the black-haired woman´s Shadow. "This time... This time for sure... I will finally be free...", Yukiko´s Shadow cheered, the black fog swallowing her, growing.
"Now...", Yukiko cried, voice chocked. "You´re... me... You´re me. YOU´RE ME!!", she screamed in despair, but her Shadow grew taller and taller and took on another form. "Agh!" Yukiko collapsed, unconscious.
"Hah! I got it!", Kanji cheered, having finally solved the simple puzzle. The cage around the good prince vanished, and in the same moment the barrier of light that had blocked the path to the next room vanished as well.
"Too late...", Naoto sighed and stared at the fog that started to lift around the Shadow, her whole body tense.
"I am a Shadow, the true self! *snrk*", they could hear the Shadow giggle. Moments later a giant fire-red bird appeared before the friends, wearing a black mask that had tears drawn on it and carrying massive weights that were fastened to its wings. "Just where could he be? Where is the prince who will save me from this hell?!"
"That´s... That´s not exactly how Yukiko´s Shadow had looked like the last time!", Chie said with huge eyes, noticing the flames the Shadow´s body produced. She would be dead if Tomoe got hit by them.
"That thing´s strong!", Rise warned them. "Its Arcana is the Priestess, and fire attacks are useless, as you can probably guess!"
"Time for a little snack!", Yukiko´s Shadow suddenly shouted and flew towards the unconscious Yukiko, beak wide open.
"Bufu!!", Chie shouted in horror.
"Grah! You´re in my way!", Shadow Yukiko snarled, dodged the ice attack and shot upwards a few metres. Several salvoes of different elemental attacks were thrown at the Shadow who dodged again. "I said you´re in my way, fools!", the Shadow screamed and flapped its wings several times despite the weights.
"Aah!", Rise cried out when she was thrown against the monitor together with the others. The monitor crashed and its green shards rained down upon the Investigation Team, causing several abrasions.
"Bufu!", Chie shouted again when the bird tried to swallow Yukiko a second time.
"Argh!", the Shadow groaned, the attack having it it, and was thrown to the side. "Miserable swine!", the being hissed and created a white glowing barrier that would protect it against ice attacks for a while. "Don´t interfere!" This time the Shadow shot towards the group, destroying anything and everything with the heavy weights on its way. Several pillars of the room collapsed.
"We have to get out of here!", Souji yelled and began to carry Yukiko out of the slowly collapsing room, Kanji helping him while the others threw attacks at the Shadow to protect them.
"You won´t get away!", the Shadow screamed, dodged to the side and shot towards Souji.
"Senpai!!", Rise screamed in horror when her Persona suddenly emitted several sparkles from its antenna. The sparkles hit the bird which missed Souji and crashed against a wall instead.
"Out! Out!!", Souji screamed, the room collapsing completely.
"Phew!", Yosuke sighed in relief when they reached the next room - a giant area full of lifts -, the room behind them having buried Yukiko´s Shadow.
"Your Persona can fight, Kujikawa?", Naoto asked Rise.
"It... seems like it.", Rise said and scratched her head, seemingly surprised herself that her Persona Himiko had used the attack `Pulinpa´to confuse Shadow Yukiko.
"Anyway, we have to get out of here as fast as possible and--", Souji started, but stopped in horror when Shadow Yukiko shot out of the debris and punched Rise unconscious with one of the weights.
"We´re not finished yet!", the beast screamed. "You ought to be ashamed of you! Hitting a princess like that, you barbarians!"
"Rise-chan!", Teddie shouted and ran towards the teenie idol to heal her.
"Foolish bear!", Shadow Yukiko yelled and threw several fire balls at Teddie.
"Fuck! Siegfried!", Kou yelled and managed to protect Teddie with his Persona that had a slight protection against fire. Having been hit by the attack, Kou was thrown to the side. Yosuke hurriedly healed the small wound with his Persona while Teddie tended to Rise.
Dozens of elemtal attacks were thrown at Shadow Yukiko again who merely created a temporary shield against ice attacks while letting the other attacks hit it, not causing any damage at all.
"You won´t get out of here alive!", Yukiko´s Shadow shouted and did another dive at the group, the weights it carried destroying the floor.
"If this keeps up, we will be buried under the debris!", Chie screamed in panic and looked up at the door above him that was sealed by another barrier of light.
They could hear Shadow Sideus speech in the background again, but the noise the battle created was too loud to hear the continuation of her fairy tale.
"Kneel before me!", Yukiko´s Shadow yelled and fired several fire balls at Kanji who took shelter behind a statue of the good prince that stood on one of the lifts. Again, several elemental attacks were thrown at the bird which didn´t seem to take any damage at all.
"GET OFF THE LIFT RIGHT NOW, TATSUMI!!!", Naoto snapped at Kanji.
"Wha'?", Kanji asked, confused, but the Shadow was already throwing fire balls at the rope that was holding the lift in the air. "Fuckin´ hell!", Kanji yelled and jumped off the lift just in time. The lift fell down the hole Shadow Yukiko´s attacks with the weights had created and shattered.
"Kukuku~! You fools!", Shadow Yukiko giggled while the attacks thrown at it didn´t hurt her at all.
"That´s not gonna work!", Souji shouted in aggravation, crunching his teeth, and suddenly spotted the statue of the bad prince, also standing on a lift right in front of the sealed door, that was ten times huger than the statue of the good prince. He threw a glance at Shadow Yukiko whose barrier against ice attacks had already disappeared again. "Teddie! Chie! Bufu! Now!"
Both Persona users threw ice attacks at the Shadow without hesitating, the Shadow laughing its ass off while dodging.
"Argh! It´s just too fast!", Chie snarled and wanted to stop the bombardment already.
"Don´t stop!", Souji snapped at her. "Lure her upwards!"
Chie and Teddie did as they were told, and Shadow Yukiko dodged their attacks time and time again, flying higher and higher.
"Kukuku~! What exactly are you trying to do?!", the Shadow chuckled, but then looked above it in confusion when it felt something behind it: Teddie and Chie had thrown ice attacks at her until she had maneuvered herself right under the lift that carried the bad prince. "NOOOO!!!", it shouted in pure horror and tried to get away. But Izanagi had already managed to get to the rope supporting the lift and cut it. The lift crashed against Shadow Yukiko who fell down the hole together with the lift, buried beneath it.
"Is... she finally whack?", Rise asked, unsure.
"No, I´m afraid not.", Naoto said and looked at Yukiko who was still unconscious.
"Rise! The portal! Hurry!", Souji demanded.
"Y-yeah, of course!", Rise stammered and created the portal, now having the time to do so since Shadow Yukiko couldn´t attack them anymore.
"You won´t get awaaaaaaay!!", was the last thing they could her Shadow Yukiko screech before the portal had transported them out of the dungeon.