"LISTEN AND LISTEN GOOD!"
Johnny winced as Teddie shouted right next to him.
"Gah, my ear!" He dug his pinkie finger into said ear hoping that nothing permanent got hurt there.
"I want to go to Yuki-chan's inn for a special celebration!" Teddie continued while grinning like a loon. "Gala events, hot springs, yukatas, geishas… the works!"
"T-That's asking for a lot from my inn…" Yukiko muttered while everyone groaned, including Johnny.
What, did he think they were made of money?
"Okay, sure. Me and Gyro are loaded but there are limits! And I don't want to see a geisha!"
The Junes food court was not that busy today, thankfully. So they could talk a bit more freely about what had happened in the other world.
Everyone seemed to be in high spirits, and Johnny was glad for that. They had won, after all! The killer was finally caught and now they could all return to their regular lives!
"Meanwhile, they can help me figure out how to make my legs move from time to time."
He left hand clasped his left knee and he moved it. Kind of, at least. He felt a twinge and some movement from his leg, but nothing spectacular.
And he frowned at that.
"Maybe I'm more tired out from that dungeon thing than I thought.
"Um, Teddie…" Yukiko let out a nervous chuckle. "Maybe a bit later, okay? Now's not really a good time."
"Huh?!"
Chie quickly came to her best friend's defense. "Yeah. Sorry, Teddie, but the tourist season's about to pick up so a group outing like that's going to be kinda difficult at the inn."
That made Johnny bring his attention back to the conversation. Seriously? Tourism was that big in this sleepy little town? "Then again, the inn is pretty much one of the few things keeping Inaba on the map."
But surely, the inn couldn't be that busy!
Right?
"But if Yukiko and Chie say it will be, then I guess it is."
Teddie seemed to deflate at that announcement. "Aw, so we're not going to celebrate?"
The inn heiress merely gave a sad smile and patted Teddie on his blond head. "Maybe later in the season, okay?"
Johnny opened his mouth and said something that he would've choked on just a few months ago.
"Why not my place?"
Everyone looked at him in surprise, even Gyro. Hell, Johnny surprised himself with that statement.
Why his place? Didn't they have Chie's house or Yosuke's? Hell, Gyro's house was big enough to accommodate them all!
"Hey, yeah! That's great!" Gyro slapped him on the back. "Your uncle's house has that nice homey feel to it, so it'd be perfect for a celebration!" He then let out a sigh. "But that means I won't be able to bring out the celebratory vino."
"Oh Gyro, we're underage!" Rise giggled and decided to poke some more fun at the Italian. "And don't give us that whole 'in my culture' schtick!"
"You wound me, Madam!"
"You know, I never saw your place, Senpai!" Kanji leaned across the table and grinned at Johnny. "Should be fun! What're you gonna cook up!"
"Cook, well…" Shit. He didn't have any cooking skills! "…Chips and dip?"
"BORING!" Yosuke declared with a sigh. "Come on man, it's a celebration! We gotta make something special!"
"Oh! Omelet rice! Omelet rice!" The bear turned human shouted excitedly. "I always wanted to try that!"
"Hey! That sounds like fun!" Chie snapped her fingers. "Oh! And since we're going to be going to Johnny's place, Nanako can join us!"
The American gave Chie a flat stare. "Are you going to be making anything? Because if you are, you'd better follow the directions for a recipe. I'd rather not have my cousin be poisoned, thank you very much."
"Damn. Poisoned?!" Rise's jaw was practically to the floor as she stared at Chie and Yukiko, who were now as red as tomatoes. "What did you guys make?"
"Nothing! It's just a funny little joke that Johnny is making!" Chie grinned at Johnny with closed eyes and a smile that showed the American all her teeth. "Right?"
"I don't know. He's got a point there." Yosuke leaned back and stared at the ceiling wistfully. "My stomach still does backflips from the curry you… OW!" The brown-haired boy hissed as he leaned forward and began to rub his shin, "Chie?! What the hell!?"
The tomboy only blinked at him. "Yosuke, unless my leg grew there's no way in hell I could kick you."
Johnny couldn't help but notice that Yukiko was starting to 'innocently' whistle.
The Italian member of the group clapped his hands. "Well, how about this?! We can make this your culinary redemption!" He pointed at the escalator that led to the main shopping floor. "Let's get our supplies and make this a night to remember!"
"Yeah!" Everyone, including Johnny much to his shock, shouted. They got up from their seats and Johnny began to roll back his wheelchair to begin heading to the elevator.
Everyone was happy. This would be a good night. A night to remember. A night of celebrating after they finally caught that asshole Mitsuo Kubo…
Remembering that name made Johnny frown. Mitsuo… that guy didn't even put up a fight when they found him and his Shadow. His shadow was just sitting in front of a television playing a stupid video game.
"Shut up! It was me! I did it! What do you say to that?!"
"I feel… nothing."
"No one suspected I did it! That's why I had to kill the third one! I had to! Then they would see! Then they would recognize me!"
Just… sitting there. That's all they saw when they entered that room. The Shadow was playing a video game, but with a blank television emitting yellow-colored static. Meanwhile, his true self was ranting like a madman. His once expressionless face filled with fury, confusion, and fear.
"IT WAS ME! I did it! I don't care what some poser like you has to say! JUST GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
"So. You will not accept me. Very well…"
Johnny rubbed his eyes. He felt like he was getting a migraine…
"I am a Shadow. The true self. Come to me… I will put an end to your emptiness… and make you see the truth."
"Hey! Johnny!"
The American blinked and looked to see Gyro, Yosuke, and Chie at the edge of the escalator. Their faces filled with concern as they stared at him.
"They're there already?"
Had he just blacked out?
"You okay, man?" Yosuke asked as he began to walk back. "Need some he-?"
"No. No, I'm fine." Johnny let out a sigh as he began to push his wheelchair to the stairs. "Just have a lot on my mind."
The three gave each other looks before shrugging and going down the escalator. He didn't really mind. After all, it was just a minor blackout. No big deal.
But why did he have to do it remembering the Shadow Mitsuo? It wasn't even a fight. They just hit the damn thing with everything they got before it could transform, then dragged Mitsuo back to the real world kicking and screaming. With the added benefit of Chie kicking the guy in the nuts a few times before they exited the dungeon.
Satisfying, but unremarkable.
"So why am I thinking about it?"
"What the hell's keeping Yukiko?" Johnny asked with a raised eyebrow at Chie. "Shouldn't she be here by now?"
After milling around Junes shopping for ingredients, each member of the team decided to head home and prepare for the celebration. Johnny, however, had been in a slump. He had no idea what the hell to make! Least of all whatever the hell omelet rice was.
Thankfully, Nanako was home and was all too eager to begin cooking with him. She giggled a little bit when he awkwardly told her that he didn't know much about cooking, but then her eyes lit up as soon as he mentioned about the planned cook-off between everyone.
What was laying in front of them now were his… less than stellar tries at it. With some, he had over beaten the eggs and made them so flat and dense that they were like some sort of sad pancake. Sometimes he completely messed up and the egg was a torn mess laid on top of some fried rice. Then there was the incident where he accidentally spilled some… okay, half a bottle's worth of hot sauce into the eggs.
Johnny decided to spare the rest of the guys from that one by eating it himself.
He wasn't as cruel as Chie and Yukiko, after all.
Chie let out a sad sigh and leaned back. "Sorry, guys. She actually texted me when I was in the bathroom. Apparently something came up and she had to rush back to the inn."
"Aw, damn. I guess that means the cookoff is… off.." Yosuke looked to the side and mouthed a "Thank God." to Kanji.
"Aw, really?" Teddie, despite no longer just being air in a bear costume, deflated at that. "I really wanted to try Yuki-chan's cooking…"
"So, I guess the celebration is off then." Gyro shook his head. "Damn, and I made those cannoli fresh too!"
Rise licked her lips. "Well, we shouldn't let this cooking go to waste!" She smiled at all of them. "It may not be the party we hoped, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't dig in!"
Kanji gave his omelet a strange look. "Uh, Senpai? You're the one that made all of these?"
"No, it was the little gnome I keep in the cupboard for when guests arrive." He made sure to give the punk a glare. "Got a problem with it?"
The scarred teen merely gulped. "Uh, nope!"
Chie poked at her own. "Hey, is that an egg shell in mi-?"
"LETS DIG IN!" Johnny shouted, slapping his hands together in a prayer before she could continue. Everyone, startled, made their own proclamations before following suit.
His efforts resulted in eight omelet rice plates, now seven with Yukiko's portion on the kitchen counter, of varying quality. Thankfully all the trial and error resulted in one near perfect omelet that he decided would go to Nanako. She was so excited, and seeing that happy smile lifted his own spirits. And he needed it after what happened with Mitsuo Kubo.
Speaking of which, would the charges even stick? They had just handed him to the police and made up some bullshit story about going on a walk to Junes and just stumbling on him. Chie recognized him and they managed to tackle him because they heard the rumor that he was the one who committed the murder.
"Dojima didn't even chew me out. He just grunted and took the guy away." Johnny tried hard not to grimace as he put a piece of his omelet rice in his mouth. "I mean, shouldn't he have said something? About how dangerous it was to do that or some shit?"
Oh god, the hot sauce! It was overpowering everything, even the rice!
No, he had to stay strong! He couldn't reveal how badly he screwed up!
"Hm… Not bad." Rise admitted with a frown. "Though mine's kinda bland. Did you put any salt in the eggs?"
"Better than mine!" Yosuke stuck out his tongue. "There's a ton of salt! Dude, you gotta lay off on that stuff! We can always add it in later!"
"Eggs-actly!" Gyro declared with a snap of his fingers. "Not many people realize that! Let it be a lesson to you, Joestar!"
His tongue was on fire! And these criticisms weren't helping.
"I knew it!" Chie held up a white piece as big as her fingernail. "There was an egg shell! Johnny! You should've taken it out!"
"Mine's a bit too chewy…" Teddie whined in despair, his cheeks stuffed with food. "Couldn't the eggs be softer?"
His chest heaved. He had to cough badly. Something to stop the burning in his tongue!
"I can barely chew on mine. Might as well be some kinda cus-" Kanji stopped and stared at him. "Uh, Senpai? Are you okay?"
Johnny had enough. He began to cough in his hand and waved them off. Snatching his glass of water, he began to chug it down in an instant. Once he was done, he poured himself a new glass and did it again. After the third time, he sighed and leaned back.
"…Yeah, I put too much hot sauce in mine." He explained. Everyone looked at him with both bewilderment and awe. "Couldn't give you guys any of it."
Yosuke placed his hand on Johnny's shoulder. "Well, at least you didn't produce Mystery Food X. It's not bad for your first try. None of us are dead."
"Oh yeah, that makes me feel better."
Everyone slowly turned to Nanako, who was happily munching on her omelet rice. She looked up and smiled at the American. "I think mine's great, Big Bro! Thank you!"
And that made the whole affair not a complete loss.
Once everyone ate as much of Johnny's omelet rice as they could stomach, they emptied their plates and took pieces of Gyro's homemade cannoli. And the sweet ricotta cheese as well as the chocolate shavings were just the thing Johnny needed to calm his throat.
"This is so yummy, Gyro-san!" Nanako shouted before munching some more on her cannoli.
"Thanks! You cannoli imagine how long it took for me to get it right when I started cooking by my mom's knee!" Gyro flashed his grills while giving his signature smile and shooting Johnny a thumbs-up. "Get it? Cannoli? Can only?! It's a gag of mine!"
Everyone groaned while bowing their heads, save for Teddie and Nanako who just looked confused.
"Well, it wasn't exactly the party we wanted…" Yosuke clapped his hands. "But hey! We caught the kill… I mean, the culprit just like we set out to do! I, for one, am pretty dang stoked about that!"
"You're telling me!" Chie sighed while sinking into the couch. "Thank God! Now we can just go back to our regular lives!"
That caused Johnny to pause. Their… regular lives? "I…I guess that makes sense. Going to the other world isn't exactly a priority anymore. We can now come and go at our leisure. No more worrying about the killer or something."
But, surely Chie knew how much the world behind the television meant to him!
"She probably just doesn't want to mention it in front of Nanako. She's already thinking we're talking about some kind of game."
"We're going to go our separate ways…" Teddie said with a sigh.
Okay, what?
"Teddie, come on. What the hell are you talking about?" Johnny put his hands on his hips. "This doesn't mean we're just going to stop hanging out!"
"I mean, we caught the culprit, right?" Kanji interjected with a frown. "Doesn't that mean… you know… we are gonna split up?"
He threw his hands up in exasperation. "Who says that means we stop meeting up?! Seriously, what else do we have to do?!"
"Hey, calm down, Johnny!" Gyro chuckled and ruffled his hair through his cap. Johnny swatted the hand away as the Italian continued. "I mean, sure, we caught the bastard but Johnny's got a point. We've been through so much crap together… it'd be a damn shame if we just split up now!"
Everyone was silent for a few seconds before Chie and Yosuke erupted into big grins. "You know what?" The brown-haired teen got to his feet and said, "You've got a point there, Gyro!"
"Yeah! Screw splitting up! We should just hang out! We don't need monsters and whatever to keep us together!" Chie punched her fists into the air. "We can watch movies and crap! We can go to Junes or, hell, take our scooters out to the beach! Like we planned!"
"Now that's something I'm looking forward to!" The Italian threw back his head and laughed. "Nyohoho!"
As everyone talked animatedly, Johnny let out a sigh of relief. Nothing had really changed. They caught the killer… so what? That didn't change a thing!
But… for just a moment… it felt like his worst fears had come true.
July 30th, 2011:
"Damn it…" Johnny muttered as he rolled out of the library, a scowl on his face. "I was just trying to help!"
He had decided to try and get a leg up on his studies with Noriyuki, but he was being harassed by his 'girlfriend'. He tried to be nice.
But then she wouldn't leave and he told her to buzz off. Noriyuki had… well… lost his temper and told Johnny that he didn't appreciate the disrespect he showed a woman he supposedly couldn't stand. And because the American passed his test with semi-flying colors, they didn't need to study together anymore.
"Well, fine! If he wants to be miserable, let him!" Johnny rolled away in his wheelchair. "I've got other people to hang out with anyways. People who appreciate my company."
But it was… odd. Noriyuki gently admonished him for his words and attitude before, sure. But there was also a silent agreement with his words. Like Johnny was saying a lot of things he would never have the guts to say out loud.
So where the hell did this come from?
"Hey, Johnny!" He looked back and saw Gyro running up to him. The American merely let out a grunt and continued to push himself forward. "Man, what's eating you?"
"Noriyuki's being a dumbass." When Gyro gave him a look, Johnny decided to recount the entire argument.
When he finished, the Italian merely shrugged. "Eh, sounds like the guy's got a bug up his ass. Just give him some space. I'm sure he'll come around."
"You think?"
"Why not? It's just one argument. And it'll be stupid if he holds that against you forever."
"Maybe…" He wasn't so sure. Gyro didn't see the look in Noriyuki's eyes. The gaze that practically screamed that Johnny was a bug, some type of thing he needed to cut off.
"I thought we knew each other better than that."
"Whatever." Johnny rolled up to the elevator. "You up for maybe going to see a movie tomorrow?"
"Sounds like a plan to me!"
July 31st, 2011:
"They closed?" Johnny muttered to himself as he looked at the Saien music store.
The windows were shuttered and the posters all torn down. In the door itself hung a lonely 'closed' sign as well as a note saying how sorry they were to close up shop. All of it was rather standard doublespeak for how the store just ran out of money. There was no new address, so it wasn't like they relocated.
"Ah man, that sucks…" Gyro clicked his tongue. "I wanted to see what they had for vinyls and maybe buy something. You?"
"I… guess I was going to tell the chick who ran the thing what else I thought about her demo." He took out the Runaway Suns track and stared at it. "Guess I can't now."
He wasn't particularly close to Sayaka Kasshoku, they had only met twice, but it still bummed him out. "I wasn't expecting her to call me or anything. I never gave her my number. But still…"
He let out a sigh. Whatever. Sometimes things just didn't pan out.
"Let's just go to the movies. What did the others say?"
"Apparently, Yosuke's stuck on an extra shift. Chie, meanwhile, is stuck helping Yukiko in her inn. They got really busy recently. Kanji's just helping out his mom at her shop, and I still can't exactly be seen outside with Rise." The Italian looked a bit troubled. "As for Teddie…? He just kinda wandered off."
"Teddie wandered off? Without a word?"
"Yeah, it was kinda weird. But it's Teddie for crying out loud. He'll wander back." Gyro shrugged and grinned. "So I guess this date's just between you and me, Joestar!"
"Just so long as you don't put your arm around me during those stupid romance scenes." He shot back with a grin that wasn't entirely forced. The two chuckled a bit before heading towards the theatre.
But the pit in Johnny's gut didn't go away. And he found himself looking through the alleyways trying to see if Axel RO was anywhere.
Yet he couldn't find the homeless foreigner, even after he went to look under the pretense of exploring the city with Gyro.
August 28th, 2011:
"Hey, have you guys heard anything about the case?" Kanji leaned forward on the table. "I mean, I've been glancing at the town newspapers and my mom puts on the local news station but not a peep! Seriously, what gives?"
"It is strange…" Gyro put his hand on his chin and rubbed on it. "Usually, when a murderer is caught there's a day by day update about the trial and stuff. But I haven't heard a thing."
"It's like nobody even wants to talk about it. It's really bizarre." Rise looked over to Chie. "Is this normal for a country town?"
"Hell no. Whenever anything happens it gets a day's worth of coverage. Something like finding a serial killer would be big news!" The tomboy leaned back. "I mean, I'm glad things are going back to normal but still…"
"Maybe the cops are embarrassed about how we caught the killer and not them." Yosuke shrugged. "They do kinda take their reps seriously."
As the group talked about the weird lack of developments about the case, Johnny was staring at the table with how eyes furrowed.
"What the hell's going on? Did I do something to piss them off?"
He could understand Emilio Pucci not wanting to hang out. As he put it, the scandals of the church had made their way into the small town's narrow-minded gossip. And him being seen talking with Johnny a lot may result in some… rumors about what they actually do. Sure, it was annoying and stupid but Johnny could understand.
But what he couldn't understand were the residents of the Velvet Room.
Or the lack of their presence.
Throughout the entire month, he hadn't seen their ominous floating door outside of the weapon's shop. There wasn't any sign of Marie anywhere. No sudden appearances in town, and when he asked Chie and Yukiko about whether they saw her in Okina when they visited a few days ago they said she wasn't around.
It was as if his supernatural benefactors and the pain in the ass chick just dropped off the face of the Earth.
That actually worried him somewhat. He hadn't heard them ever since they caught Mitsuo, and usually Igor had at least something to say whenever he did something.
"Maybe I did what they wanted? I caught Mitsuo, the killer, and that was that?"
Or maybe they were bringing their attention to some other helpless schmuck in Tokyo or something. It wasn't likely that he was their only 'client'.
"Damn it… why couldn't they just say goodbye or something? Then I wouldn't be overthinking this!"
"Johnny! Earth to Johnny!"
He blinked in surprise and looked over to Yosuke. "Yeah?"
He crossed his arms. "Yukiko just left. Why didn't you say goodbye?"
"Huh? Really?" He looked around and saw that it was true. Yukiko was gone from the table. "Why?"
"Why do you think? Her parents called her, saying that something was going on in the inn!" Chie raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you seriously not hear anything we just said?"
"Sorry." He apologized while rubbing his temples. "I… just have a lot on my mind. Like how the Velvet Room isn't showing up anymore…"
"Maybe they think we did a good job, Sensei!" Teddie declared before his smile turned into a sad frown. "But… but I wish we could celebrate already. It's been so long since our last party, and that was without Yuki-chan."
"And it sucks that the weather's been all overcast and rainy for practically the entire summer!" Rise groaned and laid herself down on the table. "I was looking forward to the beach…"
"I don't see why Yukiko can't say she's busy with something else." Johnny crossed his own arms. "She doesn't even like working there. She told me she wanted to try and live independently. What the hell happened to that?"
Seriously, what was up with Yukiko? She was practically at her folks' beck and call nowadays. Dropping everything to help them with every little thing. It started slow at first. Sometimes she was off to the inn right after school. Sometimes she tried to hang out with just Johnny or the group, but then got called away. She barely had time to answer his texts nowadays!
"What happened to getting her own job? Of learning how to cook?"
Everyone looked at each other with troubled expressions. They had noticed it too, but seemed to just shrug. "I… guess her priorities changed. Maybe she found a new appreciation for the inn." Chie answered lamely, to which everyone gave hesitant nods of agreement.
Johnny just looked at the table with a frown.
"What is going on?"
But that thought left his mind when Chie asked about the homework they were supposed to be doing over the summer, and panic filled him when he realized he hadn't even started it.
Everyone decided to rush home to cram as much work as they could.
The troubled thoughts, however, never left Johnny's mind.
August 31st, 2011:
"What do you mean, Slow Dancer is dead?!" Johnny screamed at Gyro, who even in his agitated state of mind he could tell looked like hell. His hair was disheveled, there were bags under his eyes, and all the cheer from his face was gone. "What the hell happened, Gyro?!"
"Some punk kids, that's what!" He growled. "I was taking Slow Dancer out for a morning stroll to make her limber for today, but her left hoof fell into a hole and she broke her damn leg!"
Johnny winced. He knew such an injury was a death sentence for any horse. "A-Are you sure?"
"Hell yes I am! I know there weren't any holes last night!" The Italian held up his hands and began to shout, "When I find out who did it, sto per strizzare i loro fottuti colli!"
"I'll help with holding the rope." Johnny vowed through grit teeth. What kind of sick fuck would do that?! They had to have known Slow Dancer would die if she broke her leg! And that the horse would suffer before Gyro could put it out of its misery! Then, he remembered something. There were no gun permits for civilians in Japan! "Were… were you able to put her down…?"
At that, Gyro deflated further. "I had to wait for the cops to show up. And then for them to call a vet. I had to wait here for six hours and watch that poor horse be in pain before we could put her to sleep."
Despite himself, Johnny felt tears well up in his eyes. He rubbed them away. "Fuck." Even if he hadn't spent that long with the horse, there had been a bond between them. Slow Dancer helped Johnny show his conviction to Gyro. She had helped him to learn how to ride after years of him being sure he couldn't do it.
And now?
Now she was gone, and she wasn't coming back.
"You should've told me." He muttered out. Gyro at least had the decency to look ashamed.
"Sorry. I… I was dealing with that bullshit and forgot."
"It's fine." Johnny turned around and began to push himself away. "I'm not up for hanging out. I need to clear my head."
"You and me both. I'll talk to you later."
Johnny didn't know why, but he decided to head to the floodplain after that. He figured watching the river might calm him down, and maybe that Higashikata girl would show up. Sure, he would've preferred Chie but anyone who was related to something called the Death Arcana might have more patience and understanding than the tomboy.
But she wouldn't show.
And it would take several days before he learned from Kanji that she had succumbed to some family disease.
For some reason, he started to eat a bit less after learning that.
September 9th, 2011:
"And do not return unless I summon you!"
"Fat chance of that happening, asshole!" Johnny shot back before slamming Rohan's door. "Can't believe that son of a bitch…!" He seethed as he maneuvered himself down the mangaka's steps.
With summer over, he had to start going to his so-called club to keep the school administration off his ass.
But the usually abrasive mangaka had become increasingly annoyed with his continued presence and assistance.
Apparently, he could do nothing right. He always messed up with filling in black spots or he messed up one of the drawings and Rohan had to restart.
It came to an end when Rohan angrily declared he regretted that deal with Johnny. He had, apparently, already served his purpose as research material and was now just interfering with his genius. He wouldn't call off their arrangement with the school, but now Johnny couldn't just show up unless he was called upon.
The American, meanwhile, had enough and just left.
"So I was just research material, huh? Well, fine! I don't need him!" As he rolled down the hill he took up his cellphone and called Yosuke.
"Johnny?"
"Hey, can you gather the others? I want to go to the TV World."
"The TV World?! Dude, why? We already caught the killer!"
It took everything in him not to scream at Yosuke. "Because I want to blow off some steam. And since I don't have any video games where I can imagine I'm shooting at Rohan, some Shadows will have to do."
The teen on the other end let out a low 'oh' in understanding before he recovered. "Johnny… haven't you heard?"
"Heard what?"
"Rise just moved away."
"I can't believe this!" Chie growled. "She didn't even say goodbye!"
Johnny was reading the farewell note in front of the tofu store Rise's grandmother had managed for years. The reason it closed was because of low sales?
"That doesn't make any sense." The American muttered. "The cash they must've gotten from when Rise showed up should've kept them afloat for a while."
"Maybe her grandmother overestimated how long that business would last. Maybe bought ingredients that went bad and she lost money instead of gaining any." Gyro suggested, but the Italian also seemed troubled. "She didn't say a word to me about that, though…"
"Maybe she thought it was none of our business." Yosuke scowled. "You know, I tried calling her, but her phone number's no longer in service! Not even a text about what her new number's going to be!"
Johnny had to agree that the evidence pointed to Rise just up and ghosting them. But still…
"It doesn't make any sense!"
"She must've had her reasons." Johnny suggested. "But hell if I know what they are."
Seriously, what was the reason? She'd been attending less and less of their hangouts lately, not even supplying them with an excuse. What was it? Was her career back on track? Was she worried about her grandmother's business going under? Were those so important that she couldn't even tell them what was wrong?
"Nah. She probably just thought we weren't worth talking to anymore once the killer was caught." Chie spat out and walked down the steps. "Maybe despite being nice and friendly, she was just a bitch."
Yosuke let out a sigh. "Just goes to show that the only people who thought we were actually friends was us."
Johnny sucked in his breath after hearing that.
"Is… is that true?"
Sure, he couldn't say him and Rise were actually that close. At least they weren't as close as he was to Gyro, Chie, Yosuke, Yukiko, and Teddie. But he never gave her a reason to dislike them.
To just blow them off like…
…like how his so-called friends did once he was crippled.
After he no longer had a purpose in their eyes.
"Is… is that what happened?"
"Johnny?" He looked up to Gyro. "You okay?"
"…No." He admitted with a frown. "No, I'm not."
Nothing was okay.
Not anymore.
He wasn't that hungry when he returned home.
Rise leaving had put a dark cloud over the group, only made worse by Teddie crying and Chie trying to comfort him by saying Rise wasn't worth it. Needless to say, no one was in the mood to do anything that could constitute as fun. Hell, he didn't even want to go to the TV World after the shitty day he had.
"Seriously? Why did you do it, Rise?"
It was so unlike her. Unlike the girl he'd known for weeks. He wasn't blinded by idolization like Yosuke was, nor was he hung up about her being a celebrity and likely spoiled to a T. The girl he had met in the tofu shop that day just looked like someone trying to do her best and live a normal life. And her Shadow even pointed out that she didn't even really like being an idol all that much.
Rise had just been someone trying to figure herself out.
"I don't get it." Johnny muttered aloud. "Hell, I don't get what's been happening the past two months."
It was like ever since they caught Mitsuo, everything they had built was going to shit.
It was almost like finding Mitsuo set a curse on them.
"Or maybe it's showing what I've suspected."
Johnny frowned and shook his head. Where the hell did that come from?
He heard his phone vibrate and took a look at the ID. It was an unknown number, but the area code was in Japan. Maybe it was Yosuke or another member of the group calling from a landline?
He answered it. "You do know it's eleven, right?"
"Johnny? It's Rise."
That made the American sit up. "Rise? What the hell?"
"I remembered your number and Gyro's, and figured I might as well talk to you first and see where things go." The idol let out a sigh. "You probably have a ton of questions…."
"Hell yeah I do!" He winced at the sound of his own voice. He didn't mean to scream and hopefully neither his cousin or uncle heard a thing. "Why did you leave without saying goodbye? You just up and left us, Rise! And, I might add, disconnected your number!"
"I didn't want the others to call me. It was already tough just leaving the place. I… I didn't want it to be even more painful to leave." At least Rise had the decency to sound remorseful. "My grandma… she's really in debt. And she owes the bank a lot of money because of me…"
He remembered Gyro's theory. "She overestimated how long your fans would stick around and bought a lot of shit, didn't she?"
"Yeah, and she was planning to expand the store. But…" She let out a tired laugh. "I didn't want anyone to worry."
"That's no excuse and you know it." He shot back. "You could've told us. We would've tried to help out. Hell, me and Gyro probably could've scrounged up enough cash to make the banks back off!"
Okay, that was overestimating both his own wealth, which was still tied to his bastard father, and Gyro's. But the point still stood!
"…It's not the only reason I left, though." She sounded so tired. As if this entire conversation was exhausting. "I… I had to get away from you guys."
…What?
"I decided to become an idol again. To get off my hiatus and rejoin the rat race. Learning about my grandma's debt… It made me realize that I had a duty. That being an idol is how I'll ever be something in this world. I may not like it, but I'll have to suck up and deal. And being with you guys… you would have held me back. I would've wanted to stay with you in Inaba and never leave."
He could swear he heard Rise was on the verge of tears, but he didn't care. His hand clenched hard on the phone. Her words kept ringing in his head.
"You would have held me back."
"So… we were just an inconvenience to you, huh?"
The female voice on the phone took in a sharp breath. "Johnny, that's not… If there was some other way…!"
"Go fuck yourself, Rise."
He hung up on the idol.
Johnny stared at the silent phone for a moment, his mind racing and going over both what Rise had said… and his final words to her.
Horror dawned on him.
"What the fuck did I just do?!"
He opened the phone and tried dialing the number. He wanted to apologize, to explain that he was just upset and he was being an ass. That it must've been hard and that they would still support any decision she would make.
But the call wouldn't go through.
He saw on the screen that Rise had blocked him.
"Damn it." He punched his pillow. "DAMN IT!"
He had done it. He'd finally done it. He pushed someone who cared about him away and spit on her attempt at kindness. Rise was pouring her heart out to him and what did he do? He'd made it about him and all his shit.
Tears were rolling down his cheeks.
"Now Rise will never call Gyro. She thinks he'll be as upset with her as I was. She'll never be able to say goodbye to the others. Chie will never know what went down and Teddie won't know it was hard for her too. All because of me! All because I'm a selfish dumbass!"
He laid on his pillow and began to weep.
His dreams only filled with the furious voice of Chie when she learned what he did.
"Johnny…! Johnny…!"
July 28th, 2011:
"Johnny! Johnny, wake up!" Chie shouted, her eyes wide with terror as she shook the blonde by his collar in Gyro's arms.
He was limp as if all the strings in his body had been cut. His eyes open, but unblinking and unseeing. It was as if those blue eyes had gotten a shade hazier that it was only a moment ago. His breathing was shallow, inhaling and exhaling at a steady pace.
The cause of this state was on Johnny's chest. A deep vertical cut between his beasts, but rather than blood it was tiny red pixels that fell out in a steady stream. They tumbled onto the floor and past Chie's sides.
"Oh God, Johnny! What did that bastard do to you?!" She looked at Gyro for answers, but the Italian looked just as shocked as she was. "Gyro! Help him!"
"I-I don't know how!" Gyro reached into his pants pocket and brought out his keys. On the key ring was a green travel light, no bigger than a pen, which he turned on and shined into Johnny's eye. The pupil didn't even shrink at the glare and he said, "It's like he's in a vegetative state."
"Sensei…!" Teddie wept out as he stood to Johnny's right. "W-why can't I heal him?"
That was the first thing they tried the moment Johnny got struck by the black arrow that pierced his chest. As he fell back, Gyro took out the weapon and ordered Teddie to use his Persona.
But the missile had no effect on the American. Instead he simply bled out this pixelated material and became dead to the world.
"Guys! Maybe we should focus on the thing that caused all this!?" Yosuke asked while pointing with one of his daggers at the slowly disappearing red and black clouds. "Because I'm thinking it's about to show itself!"
"Stay behind us, guys." Kanji looked more pissed than usual, glaring murder at the place where the Shadow Mitsuo once was. "Keep Johnny-senpai's body safe. This is probably going to get nasty."
Yukiko let out a grunt of agreement as she clenched her unopened fan. All three of them were ready for combat, ready for anything that might come out.
Rise, however, was on guard duty.
"W-What the hell?!" Mitsuo Kubo, the bastard who started all this, was on his ass and was backing to the door. "What the hell's going on?! What is this?! Who was that guy?! Who are you people?!" He turned around. "Fuck this!"
But before he could even begin running, the teen idol picked up her bat and hit Mitsuo across the face. Spit, blood, and teeth flew out as the murderer crumpled to the ground, moaning in shock and pain as one hand clenched his now bleeding face.
"You're not going anywhere!" The brunette hissed as she pointed the end of her bat at him. "You're going to stay there until we beat this thing and Johnny-senpai gets back up!"
"That will never happen."
Chie sucked in breath as the cloud disappeared and a new figure emerged.
It was… a baby. A giant, floating baby with a big bulbous bald head and yellow eyes. It was as big as Gyro and seemed to lack any genitalia, with its nakedness only adding to its bizarre appearance.
"My prayer, my Radio Gaga, will not allow for it." The Shadow muttered, and Chie noticed something else. Just below it, streams of Johnny's red pixelated blood were gathering into a pool. From it, multicolored blocks began to roll out.
With a cry, Yosuke summoned his Persona and pointed at the Shadow. Jiraiya flung its two shuriken at the giant baby, ready to behead it or at least gorge the thing's head.
But the blocks began to twitch before building themselves into walls. The giant blades hit the walls and were deflected, racing right back to their master.
"Wait!"
Gyro's cry shocked everyone. Chie turned her own head to see Gyro gently let down Johnny's body onto the floor as he got up. His eyes were narrowed and his hat was brought down low. He had his hands hovering over the holsters of his balls as he continued. "What is this whole 'Radio Gaga' thing? What does it do?"
"A-Are you seriously asking it?!" She practically screamed at him. She was angry at how this damn Shadow was still drawing breath. She was angry at Gyro for asking such stupid questions. And she was angry at herself for not being able to push Johnny out of the way when the arrow came sailing at him. "Just kill it already!"
"Not until we find out what happened to Johnny." The Italian didn't so much as glance at her. Instead, he just kept staring at the Shadow. "We don't know what that thing did to him, and we all know that Shadows love to talk."
"…Okay, yeah. That's true." And now that she thought about it, a pit in her stomach formed. If they had just killed the Shadow, if they hit it with everything they had and killed it, what would happen to Johnny? "He could end up brain dead if we're not careful!"
The Shadow's eyes honed in on Gyro. "You wish to learn? Very well. Radio Gaga is my ability. Once my prayer arrow hits its target, it feeds on their power. Their vitality. Their joy. It creates a spiritual bond between us. The victim provides me with the power to manipulate my domain to a far greater degree than was previously allowed."
A low, impressed whistle came out of Gyro's lips. "Really? And in exchange for this… gift?"
"They will learn true emptiness. Loneliness. The reality of the world." The Shadow answered simply. "They are fed a completely convincing simulation, built upon their memories, their hearts greatest desires, and their fears. All to show them how, in the end, life is meaningless. How we are all empty." The eyes then scanned over the rest of the team. "How, despite proclamations of love and friendship, humans shall leave each other once bonds have served their purpose."
Chie's blood ran cold. She slowly turned to Johnny and noticed something.
From the corners of his eyes, tears were rolling down his temples.
"No…" She let out a low whisper. She didn't need to hear anymore. Already, she could see the scenes. Everyone in the team going their separate ways. Maybe they stopped talking to each other. Maybe they told Johnny that they had better things to do than hang out with him. Maybe they just told him to screw off.
But, in the end of this screwed up nightmare, he would be alone. With no one to depend on, feeling unloved and unwanted.
Just like he had in his old home.
"Days shall pass in minutes. Months in hours. Years in days." The Shadow said tonelessly, but even she could hear the small twinges of gloating. Of pride. "I wonder which of you have abandoned him first in that dream reality. Perhaps it will be the ido-."
"YOU BASTARD!" Yukiko's fury was etched into every line of her face. She didn't even scream her Persona's name as she crushed her card. Konohana Sakuya instead appeared and sent practically every one of her small petals forth. Balls of flame and smoke erupted, engulfing the shadow completely.
"Hit it with everything you've got!" The air was thinning, but none of them cared. Hell, they barely even heard Gyro's redundant order. Everyone was doing it anyways.
Rise was sending her drones into Gyro's balls as they flew forward, scrawls of 'boom' etched on them now as they made impact with the figure hidden in the smoke. Jiraiya's fists flew out, the frog-like Persona letting out its battle cry while Take-Mikazuchi ran forward and threw a single, slow, punch that let loose a deafening thunderclap.
Only Teddie stayed behind as Chie ran forward, tears streaming down her cheeks while her teeth grit in anger. She punched her card as Tomoe came into existence behind her. It leapt up, twirling the spear in its hands as it rose into the air. "DIE!" She screamed as her Persona brought the blade end down.
She was seeing red. She wanted to kill this thing. To free Johnny from whatever hell the Shadow put him in. Every moment in there was probably anguish to her friend on a level far deeper than physical pain.
For just one second, she wanted to split the real Mitsuo Kubo's head open.
But a flash of movement made her eyes widen. She made Tomoe steer her descent to the left in the last second, and saw almost half her left arm get cut on the side.
Chie hissed as she stumbled to a stop. Now clutching her own bleeding arm. "Damn it! He went right through the bone!"
But how?!
How could this thing do that?!
The smoke cleared and the other Personas retreated to give the thing some space.
The baby was no longer there.
Instead, it was a massive pixelated warrior. A being that looked like it belonged in an eight-bit arcade game of a bygone era, weilding a massive sword and wearing a red helmet as its two long black 'eyes' stared at them.
"I have studied you all as you approached. I have borne witness to your skills and capabilities." Came the Shadow's voice as it loomed over them. "Out of all of you, he was the one that opened avenues for my defeat. His abilities and actions are possibly numerous. Infinite potential outcomes."
They took a step back as it seemed to flicker closer.
"So he shall learn what it is to be empty. As for the rest of you?"
Chie clenched her fists, ignoring the pain as she glared at the thing.
If it weren't so proud of being emotionless, it would probably be smiling condescendingly at them.
"You are all already dead."
—[To Be Continued \]
Note: Here's the new chapter, fresh from my trusty beta Saint Danielle !
Honestly, this chapter and the upcoming one are probably some of the toughest shit I ever had to write. Even more than trying to shit out another fight scene. Because I'm writing someone losing all his friends, and experiencing his greatest fear.
That all the people who Johnny loves will leave him, and he'll push them away.
And if you see the similarities to the classic Superman tale For The Man Who Has Everything, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons, it was 100% intentional. That story's been a huge inspiration for this arc end thats been fermenting for years.
Be sure to leave a review and check out the TV Tropes Page!
Until next time!