Author's Note: The continuation of Reese's arc! Hope you guys are enjoying it so far!

Chapter Thirty Four

All about Me

The monster swung its pipe with great velocity. Yuna leapt out of the way, praying that the others were able to react as quickly as her. A loud crash echoed around her. The club shuddered. She looked up to see the shadow rip the pipe out from the wall behind the group. "Slippery guests you are." He said, lifting the pipe to rest on his shoulder. "We could make this easy you know. Just let me kill you and move on."

"Because that's a fair trade." Yasuko said.

"Sounds good to me!" The shadow tossed the pipe into the air with a laugh. It caught it, spun it around with no effort and swung it like a baseball bat straight at the group. Kanji's persona moved to intercept, grabbing the pipe mid air. It skidded backwards a bit, but held firm. Shadow Reese growled and pushed harder. Take-Mikazuchi pushed back, lifting the shadow a few inches off the ground. Shadow Reese screamed. "Let me go!" A burst of wind erupted from the pipe. Take-Mikazuchi dropped him instantly, flying backwards. Kana grunted, collapsing to her knees and holding her chest in pain. Shadow Reese smacked the persona in the chest. Kana cried out in rage. Her persona hit the wall behind her and crumpled to the ground.

"Kana!" Yuuki swung his samurai sword, summoning Konohana Sakuya as Shadow Reese began to take another swing. The persona blasted him with fire, halting his attack as Yuuki rushed to heal Kana.

"Tomoe!" The yellow persona appeared, slashing into Shadow Reese with one quick strike. Yasuko's persona joined the fray, sending a blast of wind in Shadow Reese's direction. The monster shrugged it off with little effort. He held his pipe up and a burst of electricity rained down on Jiraiya. Yasuko screamed, crumpling to the ground. Chao rushed to her side as Tomoe moved to assist Jiraiya. Shadow Reese slammed the pole into the ground. Fire burst around Tomoe. Chao dropped to his knees next to Yasuko as the two tried to support each other.

"Senpai!" Teddie cried from the back. "Look out!"

Shadow Reese spun the pole in his hand and held it under his arm like a giant cannon. A ball of white light appeared at the end of the weapon, growing bigger and brighter with each passing second. "Enjoy your time in hell!" A beam of light shot out from the pipe, nearly knocking the shadow off of its feet. "Dominion!" Yuna screamed leaping forward to protect her friends. An angel creature with blue hair and a massive blue robe appeared. Dominion held a giant book open in front of him. A massive silver dome appeared around them. The light stream hit it straight on. Yuna skidded backwards, but the angel stood firm. The light seeped around it and the group as if a protective bubble had surrounded them and Yuna's persona. A thick white sash decorated with blood red crosses flew off Dominion's neck and over Yuna's head before disappearing in a flash of light.

Shadow Reese howled in anger. "Just die!" He shoved the pipe out without warning, smacking straight into Dominion's chest. The angel disappeared into a shower of light. Yuna flew backwards, landing flat on her back a few feet away. She cried out before biting down on her tongue. The taste of blood filled her mouth. She could hear her friends calling for her. "Senpai!" The ringing in her ears drowned her out. Her stomach ached. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She tried to re summon her persona, but nothing came to her. Dominion was gone.

"Hope you enjoy the lightshow!" Shadow Reese said. "Because it's the last you'll ever see!" Another light began to charge.

I can't block this one. Yuna thought as she struggled to push herself to her feet. She held her hand out, trying to find any persona she could summon. Dozens of names passed through her mind, but she couldn't find the strength to summon any of them. I'm going to die. The shadow cackled. The beam fired. Yuna closed her eyes and prayed for a miracle.

"Sensei!"

"What?!"

When Yuna felt nothing, she opened her eyes slowly. "Teddie?" Her eyes snapped open. The cannon had fired, but the blast had only made it half way. Teddie stood directly in between Yuna and the Shadow, blocking the beam with her body. The light streamed around her, avoiding every member of the team as if by magic. "Teddie!" Yuna called again. The bear stood strong, pushing against the attack with all her might.

"I won't let you hurt Sensei!" Teddie cried.

"Get out of the way you pest!" Shadow Reese shrieked. The beam got brighter and stronger.

"I'm… going.. bear-serk!" Teddie roared and charged forward. Shadow Reese shouted in surprise. Teddie fought back. In the next few steps, Teddie leapt forward, diving into Shadow Reese. The blast from the pipe rebounded on Teddie's body, hitting the shadow as the bear body slammed into him. BOOM. Light exploded throughout the room. Yuna ducked her head toward the ground, shielding her eyes from the blast. Shadow Reese howled. The club shuddered violently. Glass shattered from above, raining down around the party. The persona's defended their respective owners as Jiraiya pulled Yuna under his protection.

A moment later, everything was silent. Yuna looked up to see Shadow Reese back in his human form, his white suit damaged beyond repair. Smoke rose off of his form as he stared at the ground in shame. Teddie lay nearby, her body as flat as paper. "Teddie!" Yuna scrambled to her side as the group's persona's disappeared. Yuna slid her hand under her flattened body, lifting her as gently as possible, afraid that the bear would tear apart if handled too roughly.

Teddie's eyes opened slowly. "Sensei?"

"Are you alright?" Yuna said.

"Yeah." Teddie smiled. She sounded weak, but alive. "Did I… save everyone… Sensei?"

"You did, Teddie." Yuna patted her ears, hoping she could still feel anything. It was a miracle the bear was alive at all, but Teddie had always defied the laws of logic. "You really did it."

"I just wanted to… make Sensei proud." Teddie let her paper thin head fall back with a small smile on her face.

"You did well Teddie." Yuna looked back up toward Shadow Reese. The rest of the team had surrounded him by now, with Reese leaning on Kana for support.

"Go on." Kana said, shoving Reese gently with her shoulder. "He's waiting for you." Reese nodded slowly, pulling his arm off of her shoulder and stepping forward. His shadow looked up at him without a word.

"But what do I…"

"You're going to ignore me again." The shadow said, clenching his fists. "You're going to reject me and leave me alone and nothing will change." He raised his voice. "You will never accept the truth!" Reese was silent. Tears began to form in the corner of the shadow's eyes. He stamped his foot. "You're a blind, scared, selfish fool! I hate you I hate you I…"

Suddenly, Reese reached out and slapped him. The Shadow recoiled in surprise. Reese met his shadow's eyes and held out his hand. "I'm scared." He said. "I'm scared of what I'll become without… the spotlight. The fame and fortune is… all I have. And now…" He paused and took a deep sigh. "I'm losing it all. And I have no choice but to let my dreams crumble around me because I'm not strong enough to hold onto it." He shook his head. "No one understands. They all accuse me of giving up. Of walking away from everything I love because I'm lazy or tired. And in some way it's true."

"Reese." Yuna said quietly as she helped Teddie upright.

"Go support to him." Teddie said. "I'll be alright."

Yuna glanced back and nodded as she approached the group. Reese continued. "I thought no one would understand. I thought I could never understand it all. But… you do don't you? You've accepted it, when I had lost all hope."

"The real me doesn't want to be trapped here." Shadow Reese said. "The real me loves the spotlight. He craves attention."

"He doesn't want his life to be over." Reese finished. "He knows he is nothing without his past."

"Nothing…without?" Teddie whispered.

"But it's okay to embrace change!" Reese said with increased excitement. "It's okay to take what life has given me and move on with it! What good will I be if I keep moping around like a child?" He took the Shadow's hand aggressively and pulled it back. "You are me. And I am you. So lets try to forget our past and move on to the future, together." He winked. Shadow Reese smiled and nodded. His human form faded into that of a tall, satellite faced woman, before transforming into an Arcana card and disappearing for good. Reese placed his hand on his chest and closed his eyes. "Welcome back Himiko."

"How can I… move on from a past I don't remember?"

"Why would you want to know?"

Yuna spun around as a deep, unrecognizable voice echoed behind them. Just beyond where Teddie was standing stood a second, full 3-D version of herself with golden eyes and a sly smile the likes that Yuna had never seen from such a sweet bear. Even the colors of her bear suit were all wrong, with pink and sky blues replaced by crimson red and black. A dark aura rose off from the second Teddie's skin like smoke. Normal Teddie stared back at her for a moment, confused. "What's wrong Senpai?"

"You don't want to remember." The second Teddie said. "It's so much better to life in ignorance and lies. What good would it be to know who you actually are?"

Teddie spun around in surprise. Her paper form jumped back in surprise. "Who are you?" She said.

"Not Teddie." Yasuko said as the group moved to join Yuna.

"How can that bear have a shadow." Chao said.

"Hold on Ted." Yuuki said just loud enough for Yuna to hear.

"I am you." Shadow Teddie said. "The truth by which you live by. What good will remembering the past do? To your friends you are nothing. Your past will not change that. So why suffer?"

"My friends love me." Teddie said angrily. "You don't understand!"

"You honestly believe that?" The shadow said calmly. "They put up with you sure, but they will forget about you. When all of this is said and done you'll be left alone again, just like before. Forgotten amongst the shadows of this world. And you will fade away… in blissful ignorance."

Teddie stomped her foot angrily. "You don't know anything."

"I know that you all will die tonight." Shadows consumed the second Teddie. The floor beneath him crumbled. "Teddie!" Yuna took a step forward but Yuuki was already running. Just before the floor crumbled beneath the bear he yanked her out of the way, back to the safety of the group. A giant Teddie emerged from the darkness beneath the club. Half of the shadow's face were gone, its hypnotic purple and blue eyes hanging in a void of darkness. The second half of its body was beneath the floor, as the monster held itself up by its two massive, sharp clawed paws. "Another shadow." Yuna said, frantically searching her mind for the personas she had available. Her power was severely weakened from before. She could feel her strength struggling to keep up with the fighting.

"What do we do?" Chao said.

"We have to fight." Kana said.

"With what?" Yuuki said. "I've used up most of my energy just keeping you guys standing."

"I'm so sorry Sensei." Teddie sobbed. "I didn't know. I didn't think I…"

"It's alright Teddie." Yuna said trying to sound as calm as possible. "We'll take care of this. I promise."

"The truth," Shadow Teddie said, its voice vibrating off the walls of the club. "It will always be shrouded in fog. Though you reach through the murk and the gloom to grasp something, you have no means th know it is the truth. In which case, why? What sense is there in yearning for truth? Close your eyes. Lie to yourselves. Live in blissful ignorance… and I will help you. Fade into nothingness!" The shadow slapped his hand into the ground. The shock sent the group flying back. Yuna hit the ground hard, but is able to roll over and back onto her feet in time.

"Teddie what is it weak to?" She said.

"I don't know!" The bear said. "I can't smell anything."

"I can help." Reese stands behind Yuna. "I can sense something… some weakness. But I'll need more time."

"Can you guys fight?" Yuna said. The group nodded. She summons a card and turns toward Shadow Teddie. "We'll get you your time Reese. But make it fast." She smashed the card in her fist and Izanagi emerges. The rest of the party's personas quickly follow suit. "We'll fight for truth." Yuna said. "No matter the outcome."

"Then I shall end your existence," Shadow Teddie roars. "and return you to the blissful depths of ignorance where you belong!"