"Careful, the shadows are getting a lot stronger all of a sudden." Teddie mentioned nervously.
"Well that doesn't matter, we need to find Yukiko and get her out before…" Chie started.
"That's not going to happen, we need to get as far as we can today but we need to make sure we don't overexert ourselves at the same time." Yosuke interjected.
"He's right, besides we… Yosuke behind you!" Yu shouted before changing personas and smirking.
"What the?" Yosuke asked turning to see a group of three ravens with golden eyes on their chests carrying lanterns. "Ted, a warning would have been nice."
"We can worry about that later, right now these birds roast." Yu stated coldly. "Ukobach, Agi."
As those words left Yu's mouth the small green demon appeared and engulfed one of the shadows in flames only for it to immediately flap its wings and blow away the fire.
"This is bad, fire won't work on these shadows." Teddie panicked.
"Alright, let me give it a try." Yosuke mentioned before summoning his persona. "Jiraiya, Garu."
While the gust of wind enveloped another one of the three shadows it just faded revealing it hadn't done any damage either.
"Ok, then if fire and wind didn't work what about my kung-fu." Chie stated before running and kicking one of the raven shadows into the wall of the hallway before it fell to the ground only to weakly fly back to the others.
"Looks like that worked." Yosuke commented before jumping back as one of the shadows tried to peck at his face.
"A kick won't destroy these things painfully enough, so if fire won't work…" Yu started before his expression turned less malicious and Izanagi appeared behind him. "Let's try electricity, Zio."
"Hold on, shouldn't we…" Yosuke started before the bolt of lightning struck one of the shadows sending it crashing to the ground as sparks flew off of it striking the other two shadows. "… Oh, never mind then."
"Yosuke, what are you just standing there for?" Chie questioned. "Let's take these things down before they get back up."
"Right, lead the charge Chie." Yu mentioned before Chie grinned and the three of them ran towards the shadows and started attacking them relentlessly before they ultimately were destroyed.
"Wow, you guys keep getting stronger." Teddie noted. "You're really amazing."
"Thanks Teddie, but we need to keep going, who knows how much larger this place is." Yosuke pointed out. "We still have time, but getting to the fourth floor, or ideally the fifth at least on this trip would be great. There's no telling how big this place is going to be but the sooner we get to the top floor the better."
"You have a point. Do you smell any more shadows Teddie?" Yu asked calmly.
"There shouldn't be any nearby, but there's definitely more shadows on this floor." Teddie answered.
"Right, then let's keep going." Chie mentioned quickly before the four of them ran down the hall.
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"Nanako, I'm home." Dojima called.
"Oh welcome home dad." Nanako replied happily.
"Your cousin isn't back yet?" Dojima inquired. "Did he say where he was going to be?"
"No, do you think he's ok dad?" Nanako asked. "Do you know who the bad guy is?"
"Not yet, hopefully he's with his friends. If there's one thing I'm learning so far this year, it's that making sure the two of you are safe takes priority over anything else." Dojima noted calmly. "To be honest, if he hadn't shown up it might have taken me a lot longer to figure that out."
"He's family dad, and we help family." Nanako said.
"Yeah, we do. Come on, it's been a long time and we haven't been to the river in a while." Dojima offered with a smile.
"Really, we can go to the river?" Nanako asked in shock before smiling. "Ok, let's go."
"Alright, just let me leave a note for Yu if he comes home while we're still there. We don't want him to get worried right?" Dojima asked with a chuckle.
"Ok." Nanako answered happily.
I'm going to find the person who's killing these people, and the one who took Chisato from us. I promise, no matter how long it takes, I'll keep you and Yu safe, Dojima thought as the two of them walked out of the house.
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"Keep running, they're right behind us." Yosuke called as Yu and Chie ran around a corner just as a block of ice froze the floor causing him to slide into a wall.
"Yosuke, Izanagi Zio." Yu declared as his persona appeared and tried to strike the two humanoid figures connected by rods attached to metal rings on their necks, wrists, and ankles with a bolt of lightning only for it to do nothing as the two shadows started muttering under their breath as a group of ice blocks struck the ground and walls around the three persona users.
"This is really bad; electricity doesn't work either." Teddie panicked. "Now what are we supposed to do?"
"Well, we've tried wind, ice, and electricity." Chie pointed out. "We still have one thing we can try."
"Right, change Ukobach." Yu called as the small green demon appeared and the cold grin appeared on his face. "Burn them to nothing, Agi."
Ok, something is definitely wrong, Yosuke thought as the flames enveloped the shadows causing it to collapse before the other four shadows met similar fates. I definitely need to talk to Yu after this.
"They're down, now let's finish them off." Yu told Yosuke and Chie.
"Right behind you, let's do this." Chie agreed confidently as the three persona users sprinted towards the shadows and attacked them until they were destroyed.
"Pathetic, when are we going to get a real challenge?" Yu asked.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Yosuke questioned. "You're acting really off."
"Off, the longer we waste time with these shadows the more energy we're using up." Yu pointed out. "If we want to find Yukiko before it's too late we need to get stronger and get through these weaklings quicker. You of all people should remember what her shadow should be capable of."
"He's right Yosuke, I know it doesn't seem normal but what about this is?" Chie asked as Yu changed back to Izanagi. "We're inside a TV running around in a castle where we fight shadows using personas and have to rescue Yukiko before it gets foggy so we can save her life."
"I guess you have a point." Yosuke agreed reluctantly.
"Besides, this new power…" Yu started. "I swear nobody will get hurt again, not as long as I can protect them."
"He's right, as long as we're the only ones with this power we need to do everything we can to keep Yukiko safe." Chie agreed.
"I know, alright well if we're lucky the stairs are…" Yosuke started before Yu opened a nearby door.
"Right here Yosuke. You wanted to try and get to the fifth floor right?" Yu recalled.
"Yeah, if we can. How are you feeling Chie?" Yosuke asked. "We don't want to overdo it and end up getting injured or worse."
"I can still go a little bit longer." Chie answered. "One more floor should be fine."
"You heard her, then we should keep going." Yu noted calmly.
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"This place is as peaceful as I remember isn't it Nanako?" Dojima asked with a smile.
"Yeah." Nanako answered happily. "Oh, do you think we should let him come here? It might make him feel better."
"Yeah, you're right." Dojima agreed. "He definitely needs it after everything that's happened. He came here for a peaceful year where everything would be alright and not two days after he gets here something like this happens."
"Why do bad people do bad things dad?" Nanako inquired. "It isn't fair."
"I wish I could tell you, but there are so many reasons people might do bad things it's really hard to say why anyone does." Dojima admitted. "Though whatever the reason is people who do bad things need to be punished, some reasons might make them have to be punished less but they still should be punished."
"That's what you do right, investigate crimes and stuff so you can punish the bad guys?" Nanako asked. "That's why you aren't ever home isn't it?"
"Something like that, there's something really important I need to do." Dojima told her. "I know it's been really hard on you, and I'm sorry. I promise once I do this one super important thing, I'll be home a lot more often and we'll do more things as a family."
"What thing, maybe I can…" Nanako started.
"That means a lot Nanako, but you can't help with this one." Dojima interjected. "This is something I need to take care of, but don't ever think I don't care about you or that I'd rather be at work then home with you and your cousin."
"Family is super important; you have to catch the bad guy for him." Nanako decided.
"I know, and I'm doing everything I can to catch the bad guy." Dojima smiled. I just hope we're wrong, and that Yukiko Amagi isn't the culprit.
"Dad?" Nanako asked suddenly.
"Hmm, what is it Nanako?" Dojima inquired.
"What…" Nanako started before looking down. "What happened before? To his friends?"
"A really bad person hurt them all." Dojima answered. "I don't know who it was, or why they did it but what I do know is that I won't let that happen again. Adachi and I will catch the person responsible and make sure Inaba is safe again."
"Ok." Nanako replied thoughtfully.
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"You guys still good?" Yosuke inquired in between deep breaths.
"I've been better, this is starting to take a lot out of me." Chie admitted. "Still, we have to get to the next…"
"No we don't Chie, we need to head back. None of us have much strength left at all and if we keep trying we could end up in even worse shape and then we could all end up dead." Yosuke mentioned. "We still have time, it isn't going to rain for a few days."
"I know, but the longer Yukiko stays here…" Chie started.
"We won't let anything bad happen to her." Yu reassured Chie. "We're the only ones who can save her and we will. I promise, now that we can do something nobody else is going to be hurt."
Yu, Chie thought. "Ok, yeah you're right."
"Don't worry, we're getting stronger every time we come back here." Yosuke mentioned. "We're definitely going to get Chie out safely."
"Yeah, we will." Chie agreed as Yu crushed one of the Goho-M's Teddie gave him and a flash of light enveloped the four of them before fading to reveal they were at the entrance to the castle.
"You guys are going back now?" Teddie asked.
"Yeah, if we don't get some rest we'll start making mistakes and that's not something we can afford." Yosuke admitted. "We'll be back soon Ted."
"Ok." Teddie said quietly as the three persona users left the TV world.
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"It's getting pretty late so we should head home. Tomorrow we should try and get as high as we can in that castle." Yosuke suggested.
"Yeah, that makes the most sense." Yu agreed. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"See you Yu." Chie said. "Just a little farther Yukiko, we're going to save you."
"Yeah, we will." Yosuke mentioned calmly. "We'll save Yukiko, and find whoever tried to hurt her and stop them before they hurt anyone else."
"Yosuke, thanks you're right we're definitely going to get her out before the fog shows up." Chie replied with a smile.
(Yu, Yosuke, Chie, and Teddie have reached the fourth floor of Yukiko's castle but have decided to stop for the day. Next chapter Yu will acquire a new persona and the three persona users will encounter an extremely powerful shadow inside the castle. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)
