Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the Nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames, please, constructive criticism only.

Special thanks to SaintInfernalNeos for helping me with this story and Lost Idea Alchemist who helped edit the later chapters.

Just an FYI there will be no Persona evolution in this fic, but me and SaintInfernalNeos have come up with ideas that we hope compensate for this.

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[04/13 Wednesday, path to Yasogami High, Inaba]

The next day, Yu Narukami was calmly walking to school, lost in thoughts about the strange dream he had last night…until he heard the screaming voice of the boy who Chie had kicked yesterday.

"Watch out!"

As if on cue, the boy sped past him, lost control and, by some twisted combination of bad luck, ended head first into the trash can.

"So-someone, help! Get me outta here!" pleaded the boy while twisting around inside the garbage can.

Unlike the day before, when had had seem the absurd scene also happen in the morning, the silver-haired boy decided help and quickly pulled him out of his smelly prison.

"Uff…thanks man, you're a lifesaver!" thankfully grinned Yosuke once he was back on his feet. "You're Yu Narukami, right?"

The boy in question simply nodded as answer.

"I'm Yosuke Hanamura!" the boy introduced himself.

"Uhm, pleased to meet you." greeted Yu with an awkward smile.

"Hey, do you know what this towns famous for?" suddenly commented the headphones-wearing boy, catching the other teen off guard. "We do some seriously good beefsteak! I know its kinda lame, but it's fitting for this place, and since you just helped me out… how about you let me treat ya to some?"

"No thanks, I'm good…" tried to decline the boy as politely as possible.

"Come on, I insist!" continued the determined Yosuke. "You free later today? Heh, of course you are, you're new here! Hey, don't worry; I went through this once too, you know? And also…!"

"You can count me in on that action." abruptly interrupted Chie's voice, making both boys turn around to see the grinning girl, her broken 'Trial of the Dragon' DVD in her hand. "Consider it a way for you to pay me back for breaking my stuff."

Yu could easily tell by the way Yosuke seemed to deflate at the words that the other teen really didn't want to have to pay for an extra meal. Eventually, the three got to the school and Yosuke changed into a better smelling uniform during lunchtime. After King Moron's final lecture of the day, the bell rang and school ended.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later on, at the Junes food court, one could easily notice that Chie Satonaka was not happy.

"Hey, this isn't steak!" angrily protested the kung-fu loving girl. "You stingy tightwad, this isn't beefsteak, it's just some lousy cheap meat!"

"Yeah, well, once you hopped on the freeloader train, I had to change my plans…" sighed Yosuke while trying to not look at the girl. " Now eat your food before it gets cold."

Yu was only half listened as the conversation became animated over small talk. Idly, he turned to look at one of the exposed TVs in one of the food stands, just as the news came on.

"According to the latest reports, the body found yesterday identified as our local TV reporter: Twenty-seven years old, Mayumi Yamano."

"Hey, wasn't this on the news yesterday too?" curiously asked Chie as she also turned to look at the screen.

"Yeah, its freaky how that shit happened all the way out here…" muttered Yosuke while swallowing the spicy meal he'd put into his mouth. " The murderer could live just next door!"

"Please don't go there, it creeps me out." shivered the girl with a worried frown.

"Heh, I'm just messin with ya!"

"Yeah, well, I think we need to change the subject." quickly said Chie before her face lit up with an idea. "Hey, I know what! Have you heard about that Midnight Channel thing that's got everybody talking?"

"Midnight Channel?" asked Yu with a raised eyebrow. "What's that supposed to be?"

"Oh yeah!" muttered Yosuke while scooting closer to Chie. "Aren't they saying that it only comes on at midnight on a rainy day?"

"Yeah, and they say whoever shows up on the screen is supposed to be your soulmate!" explained the girl with an excited grin. "So, I heard it's going to rain tonight… waddya say if we check it out?"

"I'm amazed that you actually can STILL fall for that ridiculous kiddy crap." sighed the brown-haired boy.

"Waddya mean kiddy crap?!" demanded Chie, sending a death-glare at Yosuke

"You see? Now THIS is why you can't ever nab a boyfrien-"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" the angry yell of the girl came accompanied by Yosuke being shaken around like a can of soda.

After a few seconds of being shaken like an idiot, Yosuke's eyes abruptly opened and stood up, breaking free of Chie's grip as his face illuminated.

"Hey...It's Saki-sempai!"

The excited boy quickly rushed over towards a tired-looking girl with long brown hair showed up, wearing a Junes apron.

"Oh…hey there Hana-chan." she greeted

"That's Saki Konishi, a third-year in our school. I like the girl, she's cool and she's really pretty." commented Chie, the hint of a smile on her lips. "Her family runs the liquor store in the shopping district…I think she's working here part time, though."

If June's presence was having a negative effect on the shopping district like Chie said, then Saki's parents probably weren't happy that she had this job. When Yu took a good look at the older girl, he could see a hint of annoyance in her eyes as Yosuke kept speaking to her.

"Did you think she was his girlfriend or something?" Chie chuckled, as if amused by the idea. "He'd be happy if she was, but apparently they just work together here at Junes."

"You there!" the aforementioned girl suddenly called out to Yu, making the boy blink. "You're the new transfer student, right?"

"Yeah…" nodded the silver-haired boy while looking silently at her.

"This guy doesn't have a whole lot of friends." Saki thumbed at Yosuke while saying that, making the boy blanch at the comment, "I mean, he's not bad he's actually pretty nice, but if he starts bugging you just let me know."

"Er….it's not that…he just…" Yu wasn't sure of how to respond to the 'offer' without offending either of them.

"Heh, I'm just joking around, don't worry!" smiled the older girl with a chuckle, but the teen got the impression that she may not have been joking.

"Saki, that really wasn't funny at all!" complained Yosuke, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Oh, don't worry about it…Well, I think I'd better be taking off now, so see you later!" and after waving at them one last time, the smiling girl walked away.

"Wait, Saki-sempai, about that thing I-!"

"Oh yeah, sounds fun." even as she said that, the older girl didn't stop walking away. "We can make plans during my next break, ok?"

"BOOYAH!" joyfully screamed Yosuke, almost jumping from the excitement.

"What's got you all excited?" Chie's teasing tone seemed to bring the boy down back to Earth, but it didn't seem to affect his good mood in the slightest.

Quickly, Yosuke turned to her and showed a pair of movie tickets, wearing a big grin on his face.

"Oh, now I see where you're coming from…" chuckled the girl with teasing smile.

For his part, Yu ignored his classmates and silently stared after Saki. He could help but get the feeling that something was wrong with her…

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

That night, true to Chie's word, it rained. Yu had decided out of curiosity to see if this 'Midnight Channel' was legitimate or not so the TV was unplugged and the silent room was totally dark.

It was almost Midnight.

"Yeah, right. As if." dismissively muttered the teen after a few seconds of staring at the darkened screen.

Then, the clock struck 12.

The TV flashed to life and, before Yu's astonished eyes, the unclear image of a girl with long hair appeared on the screen, blurred and covered by static. The shocked boy noted she that vaguely resembled Saki Konishi, even though the image was pretty distorted.

For some reason, Yu moved toward the TV as if in a trance. He heard a strange voice in his head, which suddenly felt as though it was splitting open…

I am thou… and thou art I… You shall open the door…

The mesmerized boy staggered towards the TV and reached out towards it. And when he touched the screen…his hand passed through it as if the screen was a pool of water.

Out of nowhere, he felt something strong attempting to drag him in, breaking his trance and making the boy start to try and pull away. He put his foot on the TV stand and pushed with all his might, eventually freeing himself and smashing his head against the table behind him.

He was still trying to recover from the mix of pain and shock when there was a knock at the door.

"Hey, are you okay?" Nanako's voice asked from the outside.

"Ye-yeah, I just tripped and smashed my head. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Seemingly satisfied with his answer, the little girl went back to her room. Yu, for his part thought that the lie was for the best.

After all why would she believe that his hand went through the TV screen?

"What in the hell was that…?" the boy asked himself as he stared at the TV screen in total disbelief.

And outside, the heavy rain keep falling.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/14 Thursday, Junes Electronics Department, Inaba]

The next day, one could see that Yu Narukami was annoyed.

The reason was that that Yosuke and Chie, the two people he'd met and made friends with hadn't believe him when he told them earlier, when school had ended, about how his hand got stuck inside the TV when he was seeing the Midnight Channel last night.

And now, they were in Junes, standing in front of a massive TV, and Chie and Yosuke continued to tease Yu about it, touching the screen themselves and saying how it was a solid with a laugh.

"Ah…man, I can't believe we're seriously doing this…" sighed Yosuke while shaking his head.

"Hey, why not?" asked a grinning Chie, who still seemed amused by the whole deal. "My family's wanted a new TV anyway… Maybe you can use your connections and cut me a deal!"

"Of course I can't!" denied the boy before turning towards the eyebrow-raised Yu and explaining. "You see, my dad happens to be the manager of this store. Just like you, I also transferred to this town from Tokyo. I guess almost six months ago…"

"Oh, really?" asked the boy with a curious tone.

"Junes does make life easier, but all the mom and pop shops and are pretty empty now" commented Chie while shaking her head.

"Hey, don't say that straight to my face!" protested Yosuke with annoyance.

"Would you rather prefer that I said it behind your back?" retorted the girl with an almost challenging expression.

While the two of them kept arguing, Yu looked at the news report on the TV. They were interviewing the student that found Mayumi Yamano's body. The boy's eye's widened when he realized that she resembled the girl he saw on the Midnight Channel last night.

"Oh, I guess that girl kind of look like Saki, doesn't she?" commented Chie while also looking at the screen. "Everyone in class is talking about it; they all think that Saki is the one they were interviewing there about the body."

"For real?" asked a surprised Yosuke. "That explains why she skipped school today…"

While his two friends kept talking about Saki, Yu decided to try again. Determined, he reached out towards the TV and then…his hand slipped through the screen as it rippled like water.

His hand was inside, but it wasn't trying to pull him in like before. A grin formed on his face. He wasn't crazy, after all.

And the other teens had just noticed it, too.

"Who-whoa! Yo-your hand went right in!" cried Chie.

"Du-Dude, how are you pullin this off?!" panicked Yosuke with wide eyes.

Yu's response was just a shrug of his shoulders.

"Wo-woah… that's kinda awesome…" muttered green-wearing girl while looking closer.

"I think I can go further in…" muttered the silver-haired teen while inching closer to the screen.

"OOH, this is gonna make me piss myself!" yelled Yosuke as his bladder began acting up.

"Hold it, will ya!" yelled Chie with an angry panic. "Thi-this is serious!"

And then, Yu crawled halfway INTO the TV

"…It's very spacious in here." he nonchalantly told them.

While the headphones-wearing boy kept fidgeting because of his bladder issue, the girl of the group tried to pull at him to calm him down. This, in turn, made him try to resist for a few seconds… before he gave way and made them both collide with the amazed Yu, causing that the three screaming teens fell completely into the TV.

It then stopped shimmering, as if the three of them were never there.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The three teens found themselves falling through what seemed like a white tunnel with black squares, almost like TV screens twisting in a Counter-clockwise pattern. Eventually the screens all lined up and they 'landed'.

Yosuke fell on his backside, Chie landed on her feet but rolled forward to deal with the impact and Yu managed to, somehow, land in a crouching position.

"Ugh, my head…wa-wait, where are we?" asked a confused Chie while looking around at their surroundings

"I believe… that we're inside the Television." calmly stated Yu, as if he was just talking about the weather.

Indeed, it certainly 'seemed' like they were. They appeared to be on a TV set, with lights above and concentric circles on the ground… that had outlines of bodies like what one would see in a crime scene.

"What?!" Chie's yell seemed to echo inside that eerie place. "Don't just stand there given me crazy talk, I'm being serious!"

"Aww man, this hurts too much to be re…al" whined Yosuke while clutching his pained behind. "I think I busted my ass or something…"

"Woah, I'm so surprised." Sarcastically commented the silver-haired teen while trying to see through their foggy surroundings.

"How'd we even get in here, anyway?" asked the girl of the group while looking around. "I can't see an entrance anywhere…"

"Yeah, I can't see a damn thing through this fog…" commented Yu with a confused frown.

"So… what do we do now?!" asked the panicked Yosuke while running up to Chie.

"What are you asking me for?!" retorted an equally distressed Chie. "I-I don't know all I want to do is go home, like, immediately!"

Suddenly, the sound of strange footsteps drew the panicking teen's attention, making they all turn around, to see how, standing inside the eerie fog, the shadow of some sort of bipedal creature was staring at them.

"Wha-what the hell is that?!" screamed a panicking Chie.

Instead of answering Yosuke turned and ran while screaming, with the other 2 quickly following cue. After a few minutes of running, they found themselves what seemed like a building's eerie room. Inside, they saw something that seems like blood dripping on the floor from the walls and, to make things even creepier, several posters of a woman with her face torn off.

"Finally…it took us forever to ditch that weirdo…thing…whatever…" panted a tired Chie, apparently not having noticed their surroundings.

Almost in the centre of the room, there was also chair, with a red scarf over it…and tied as a noose to the ceiling. When he saw this Yu couldn't keep silent any longer.

"Where…where are we?" he nervously asked, making his two friends finally notice the room.

Yosuke gasped and took a few steps back when he saw the noose.

"What the hell?!" jumped Chie with wide eyes. "God…this place is messed up!"

The silver-haired teen took a look at one of the torn posters, swearing that it looked familiar, but being unable to remember from where…

"Oh, I can't take it anymore!" cried the other boy of the group with a desperate voice.

"What?! What is it?!" asked a scared Chie while turning to face Yosuke.

"I have to go!" yelled the boy before running towards a corner of the room.

"Hey, you can't pee here, this is someone's room!" protested the girl with angry/embarrassed look. "Narukami, will you please stop him?!"

"Why would I do that?"

Chie froze in confusion upon hearing that answer.

"Ugh, I can't go with you two standing there!" yelled the other boy before zipping his pants again. "Ah man. If I get a bladder infection it will be all your fault!"

"Who the hell cares?" shouted Chie while standing up "Let's just get out of this place already!"

"I'd love to… but how?" worriedly muttered Yosuke.

"Ehm, for now let's try going back to where we came in, okay?" suggested Yu with a heavy sigh. This day was turning weirder by the second.

With some small difficulties, they group made their way back to their landing spot. When they did, though, they found the strange creature from earlier standing there, waiting for them. It was a… red and blue half-clown, half-bear mascot suit.

Chie seemed ready to threaten it, now that she saw that the thing wasn't scary at all, but Yu decided on a different approach the moment it started cowering under the girl's sudden yell.

"What… is that thing?" asked Yosuke with a raised eyebrow.

"I could ask you the same thing!" answered the 'bear', one of his 'paws' pointed at the group with an expression of anger.

"It can talk?!" gasped the girl, an astonished expression on her face.

"Of course I can! I am a bear!" the creature said as if it was obvious. "Geeze, I've also lived here since bear-ever!"

"What is up with this guy?" loudly asked the brown-haired boy. "He's, like, beyond creepy!"

"Please, keep your voices down, will ya?" exclaimed the bear while covering his head in alarm "Now go on and get out here, run along and get back to your den!"

"What are you exactly?" asked Yu while staring at the being up and down.

The bear stopped looked at the silver-haired teen with wide eyes.

"I already told you, I'm a bear! Can't you tell?" suddenly, the creature looked around, as if lost in thought, before changing the subject. "I live here by myself. I've always lived here. It doesn't have a name…"

"You…live here?" a surprised Yosuke asked.

"If I was you guys, I'd hurry back to the other side." the bear looked around, it's ears twitching. "Everything it's a big headache here now that someone has been throwing people in…"

"Throwing people in? What're you talking about?" questioned the headphone-wearing boy, a confused expression on his face.

"I dunno who's doing it! I just want them to think before they go doing things like that!" scowled the bear while angrily stomping at the ground.

"Hey, what's your problem?!" once again, Chie's yell caused the bear to cower. "What gives YOU the right to yell at us like that?!"

Yu sighed internally as the bear ran behind him, likely because he was the only one being 'nice' to him…or not being openly hostile/dismissing, at least.

" A-Anyways, you guys should hurry back." the bear said nervously, cowering behind the silver-haired boy.

"What it comes down to is that you want us to get outta here, right? Well, so do us! We just don't know how, dammit!" cursed Yosuke while crossing his arms.

"Urrrrgh! Tha-that's why I'm saying I'll let you out!" growled the strange bear, once again stomping with his foot and apparently regaining his courage.

"Like I keep saying, we don't know where the fricken' exit—wait, what?" the boy stopped and looked questioningly at the bear. "You can get us out?!"

For all answer, the bear tapped his foot at the ground, making a stack of 3 old-style TVs to appear in a puff of smoke.

"Woah! What the hell?!" shouted an amazed Chie.

"Now, get going!" exclaimed the bear before running behind the teens and starting to shove them towards the TVs with a sudden burst of strength.

"He-hey, quit shoving!" complained Yosuke before the 3 seemed to go through the mass of TVs, screaming in surprise even as the bear nodded with satisfaction.

Then, the stack of TVs vanished in another puff of smoke.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After floating through the white space and backwards through the TV screens again, the three teens found themselves flying out of the TV and back into Junes electronics department. Yu landed on his hands and knees while Chie landed on top of Yosuke.

"We made it back." stated the silver-haired boy with relief.

In response, his two friends hugged each other in overjoyed relief…before Chie came to her senses and kneed Yosuke in the stomach.

"Don't take advantage of the situation, you big perv!" yelled the girl with indignation.

Before the pained boy could retort, though, an announcement came over the PA.

Attention, shoppers. Our daily limited-time sale will now begin at the side dish area on the first floor. Why not try the delicious, fresh products that Junes picked for you this morning as your side dish for dinner tonight? All ages are invited to take advantage of this incredible bargain!

"Crap, it's already that late?!" panicked Yosuke.

"Looks like we were in there for quite a while..." commented Chie before noticing how their newest friend had walked a little away from them. "Hey what is it?"

For his part, Yu's attention was fixed on a poster on the wall. It was one with the face of the enka singer, Misuzu Hiiragi.

"I saw this poster back there, in that weird room…"

Chie blinked, quickly walking over to get a closer look at the poster.

"Yeah, that's Misuzu Hiiragi… isn't she the woman that's been all over the news these days?" the brow-haired girl seemed deep in thought. "They say that her hubby had an affair with that reporter who just died, Mayumi Yamano…"

"Wait, what does that even mean...?" worriedly asked Yosuke. "How could she have anything to do with that freaky room?"

"Maybe there's a connection between that place and Ms. Yamano's death?" suggested the tallest member of the group.

"Stop! Don't go there!" yelled the other boy, waving his hands around in panic. "I don't think my heart can take it…! Ah, crap this is bad; I still gotta take a leak!"

"This whole thing is starting to give me the chills…" complained Chie while rubbing her temples. "I'm feeling kind of woozy… I think I'm heading home to sleep…"

"Yeah, sure. I think that will be the best for all of us." silently nodded Yu, giving the poster one last glance before heading back home himself.

He had a lot to think about tonight.

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[04/15 Friday, Yasogami High, Inaba]

"I'm just saying… I feel as if I went through hell yesterday…" complained Chie as she walked to school with Yukiko.

"What do you mean?" asked her best friend with a confused expression.

"I'll…tell you about it later." replied the kung-fu-loving girl while shaking her head. "There's a chance you won't even believe me…."

"Hey… Yukiko?" someone suddenly asked.

The voice belonged to a male student from another school. He was drenched due to having been standing out in the rain without an umbrella. Messy black hair and a mole under his left eye seemed to be what characterized him. A creepy smile was on the boy's face even as he stared at them with his black eyes.

"Huh?" both girls stopped walking, looking confusedly at the boy.

"I've been waiting all morning, Yukiko…"

The male student walked closer, blocking the two's way into school.

"Uhm… who are you?" nervously asked Yukiko, who was getting nervous under the strange boy's intimidating stare.

"C'mon…why don't you and I go hang out somewhere?" suggested the boy with an eerie tone.

"E-eh…?" the long-haired girl's eyes widened even as she took a fearful step back.

"Hey, back off, you're being a freak!" yelled an annoyed Chie, but the boy ignored her and walked closer to Yukiko.

"Come on…let's go, Yukiko!"

"What school is that creep from? Doesn't he know that Yukiko is off limits?" one of the students commented while walking into the school.

"Hey you." the strange boy froze, turning his head around to see Yu's form standing just behind him. "Stop harassing her."

"What the…?! Where did you come from?!" even as the boy shouted this, Chie and Yukiko also blinked in shocked surprise.

Neither had noticed the silver-haired boy's presence either.

"I have been here for a while. Now, will you please leave my friends alone?"

The boy eerie didn't know exactly what, but there was SOMETHING in Yu's eyes that seemed to contain an unspoken threat if he refused.

"…so…are you coming or not Yukiko?" the mysterious student tried his luck one more time, turning around to not keep staring at the boy behind him.

"Sorry, but I'm not going." Spoke Yukiko with a tone of finality.

"Ugh, fine then!" growled the boy before running away. "Stupid bitch…"

"…what did that guy want from me?" muttered the red-wearing girl with confusion.

"You really don't know?" asked an exasperated Chie with a sigh. "He wanted a date!"

"What? Are you sure?" Yukiko seemed genuinely surprised by that revelation.

"You REALLY couldn't tell, right?" sighed the brown-haired girl before guiding her best friend back towards the school.

All the while, Yu never stopped staring the way the strange boy had run off to.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later, during lunchtime, the group talked about the curious events of the morning.

"You know, you can be totally harsh sometimes." commented Yosuke, having just heard about the whole thing, while shaking his head. "You cut me down cold like that as well last year."

"I wonder why?" deadpanned Yu.

"N-no, I didn't!" denied a panicking Yukiko

"Does that mean you do want to go out with me?!" hopefully asked Yosuke.

"I'd prefer not to." instantly replied the long-haired girl, shooting him down.

"Because I suck, right?" groaned the boy before his face brightened. "Well, it doesn't matter, 'cause I already have my sights set on somebody else!"

"Let me guess, it's Saki right?" guessed Yu with the hint of a smile.

"Yep!" smirked the headphone-wearing boy. "Although… she's been blowing off every text I've sent her since yesterday…I wonder if she's sick or something like…"

The sudden sound of sirens echoing through the area caught their ears, making all the students look towards the windows.

"Oh, geeze..." groaned Yosuke.

"Another accident?" wondered Yu, even as an uneasy feeling started to claw at his chest…

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Not long after Lunch ended, the staff gathered all the students into the auditorium, all of whom were very talkative most, though most of them were just gossiping. Yu paid them little mind while he looked straight at the front, the uneasy feeling of before still echoing on his mind.

"Hey, where's Yukiko?" asked Yosuke at noticing the girl's absence.

"She just sent a text. She got a call from her family." Chie explained with a sigh. "They needed her help at the inn."

"Help at the inn?"

"Oh yeah, her family owns the nicest traditional inn in town." grinned the girl, though the silver-haired boy felt something strained in her smile. "Yukiko is going to own it and run it someday!"

"Come on, text back already…" grumbled the other boy of the group while fiddling with his phone "She still hasn't responded…"

"Hey!" King Moron suddenly bellowed, catching everyone's attention. "The principal has something to say, so shut and pay attention! Make so much as a peep and you're going down on my rotten little shit list! Consider yourselves warned."

With that, the annoying teacher walked off to the side, allowing the principal to take the centre of the stage.

Yu knew something was really wrong at noticing the elderly man's grievous expression.

"Sorry everyone, but I fear I'm the bearer of bad news." spoke the principal with a solemn tone. "One of our own students…was found dead near the school's zone. Saki Konishi from 3-B."

The moment the words left his lips, the student body broke into frightened murmurs.

"Please, remain calm." implored the elderly man. "The police is still investigating the case, so if any officer approaches you during the day, we urge you to answer truthfully to any of their questions of…"

Yu tuned the rest of the man's speech out, even as his eyes fell over the frozen form of Yosuke.

Thing had gone worse than he had thought.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After school ended, Yu and Chie found the depressed headphones-wearing boy in one of the outer hallways, looking down at the ground in sorrow.

"They say her body was hung like Ms. Yamano's, but it was a telephone pole this time…" one of the passing students whispered to another, making the boy tremble and contain a sob.

"Yosuke..." whispered the brown-haired girl while trying to get near him.

"…did you guys watch the Midnight Channel last night?" the boy's sudden question seemed to stop Chie in her tracks.

"You…wanna talk about that now?!" the girl couldn't help but growl.

"Just shut up and let me finish, will ya?!" the burning anger in Yosuke's tone silenced the shocked girl, even as Yu looked at him with serious eyes. "Something was bothering me, so I watched it again last night…and I think I saw Saki on it."

Chie's eyes widened in shock even as the silver-haired boy crossed his arms in deep thought, both of them exchanging a worried glance.

"Don't you remember?" asked the boy in an almost desperate voice. "One of our classmates claimed that Ms. Yamano was his soul mate because he said that he SAW her on the Midnight Channel too!"

"Oh yeah, I… remember that." muttered Chie with a hint of uneasiness.

"And I heard that Saki vanished just before her attack, just like Ms. Yamano… That can't be a coincidence." insisted Yosuke with determined eyes.

"Wait, you don't think that..."

"You're saying that whoever gets shown on that channel ends up dead?" deduced Yu while a cold feeling set up in his stomach once again.

"We all saw those Misuzu Hiiragi's posters when we were inside the TV!" the heir of Junes walked pass them with nervous steps. "What if those were there because Ms. Yamano WAS there before dying?"

"You think that the TV world is connected to the murders?"

"If we somehow made our way into that world maybe Saki and Ms. Yamano found a way in as well!"

By the tone of voice of his new friend, Yu could already say that things were going to get complicated. He just didn't know HOW much right he was…

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Yosuke this is crazy!" protested Chie some time later, the three friends standing in front of the same TV of Junes's Electronics Department. "You're NOT serious!"

"We've already escaped once before." the boy pointed out while preparing the 'security line' he had brought. "And if we go in from the same entrance then, maybe we'll find that freaky bear again!"

"There's no way you can know this for sure!" snapped the girl with an angry glare.

"Hold on. I'll come too" Chie turned around with shocked eyes at hearing Yu's sudden declaration

"What?!"

"For real?" asked Yosuke, relief clear on his eyes. "Thanks man! I could really use your help."

'Who knows what will happen to him if he goes alone?' were Yu's thoughts even as he neared the boy with a sigh

"Chie, I'm leaving you in charge of this." declared the boy while handing her the end of the rope tied around his waist. "This way, we will be able to return even if we get lost!"

"Wait! Are you serious about this?!"

"Don't worry so much." said Yosuke while waving her worries off. "So, are you ready for this?"

"Yeah. As well as anyone can be." Muttered Yu before touching the screen.

"Hey! Wait a sec" sadly; Chie's plea was ignored as the two entered into the TV.

Barely two seconds after they entered, the rope went slack, completely cut off from the two, and the terrified girl fell to her knees, letting go of the useless thing.

"I knew it!" cried Chie before grabbing her head with both hands "I knew this was never gonna work! Now what do I do?!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After another journey through black outlines of TV screens, the two boys themselves back in the TV world and back to a painful crash with the ground.

"Damn, that hurt!" complained Yosuke while Yu stood back up, looking at the familiar and eerie place with studying eyes.

"Hey, it's you two again!" the silver-haired boy's eyes trailed the familiar voice until he saw the same bear of before running at them, an angry expression on its 'face'. "Why did you come back here?!"

"It really is the same place as last time…" observed the headphones-wearing boy, ignoring the bear's question.

"Hmm…You two are bear-y suspicious!" declared the bear while pointing at them.

"Huh?"

"Lately, I can tell someone's been throwing people in here before the fog clears up…" continued the bear, walking with his hands crossed on his back.

"When does it clear?" asked Yu with a serious expression.

"Uh? Hmm, well, I know that if it's foggy on your side, the fog lifts here…." answered the talking bear with a confused expression.

"I see…" the boy turned to looks seriously at his friend. "On the day each of those incidents occurred, there was a lot of fog covering the town." Yosuke's eyes widened at that.

"Then, do you think that…?!"

"The two of you have figured out a way to come here on your own!" the bear's sudden outburst interrupted the boy's conversation, making them look at it in surprise. "So YOU must be the one's throwing people in! You two are the culprits!"

"What the hell are you saying?!" roared the headphones-wearing boy in outrage. "That's crazy!"

"Someone has been throwing people here…" mused Yu while ignoring the current argument. "Could it be...that Saki and Ms. Yamano were thrown into this world?"

"Obviously, you guys did it! Just admit it!"

"What?! Yeah, right, and how do we know that YOU didn't do it?!" demanded Yosuke before marching up to the bear and quickly start tugging at his head. "Take off that stupid costume and show us your face!"

"He-hey, stop it! My head!"

"Take…it…off!" the boy gave one last tug and the head of the 'costume' came off…which immediately caused Yosuke to leap back in fear. "Wh-What the hell?!"

"There's nothing inside." stated Yu, looking at the unnerving DARKNESS that existed inside the now headless and STILL MOVING 'bear-costume'.

"I-it's empty! What's up with that?!" demanded an almost hysteric Yosuke, even as the other boy grabbed the head from the ground and took it towards the headless body.

"Thank you bear-y much!" thanked the bear after getting its head back, smiling widely at the teen.

"…dude, does anything rattle you?" deadpanned the other boy even as Yu simply shrugged.

"Okay, I'll believe that you guys aren't the culprits…" conceded the bear.

"That was quick!" pointed a surprised Yosuke.

"But I want you to find the real guy who did all this!" pleaded the creature with a sad face. "You have to stop him!"

"The culprit?" asked the silver-haired boy with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes…I just want to live here in peace, and I can't do it if people keep being thrown inside…" the bear actually looked incredibly sad when saying that.

"Is this thing for real?" sighed an annoyed Yosuke.

"Yo-you're the only ones who can do this!" once again pleaded the bear, dangerously close to the range of 'pathetically'. "D-do you promise, then?"

"Why do we have to when you…?"

"Okay." quickly agreed Yu, cutting his surprised friend mid-word.

"What?!" Yosuke yelled "No way! You're going along with it?!"

"Well, I feel sort of sorry for the little guy…" confessed the other teen while scratching the back of his head.

"Yay!" cheered the bear, almost dancing around in happiness.

"You're being way too nice." sighed the headphones-wearing boy while resigning himself. "Okay, fine. You better help us out then, stupid bear!"

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After some talk about the current situation, the bear lead them to what looked to be a warped version of the shopping district, introducing itself as Teddie as it did so. It had also given Yosuke and Yu a pair of special glasses to see through the fog.

Both boys were making a serious effort to not try to think from where he had gotten them.

"What the hell is this place…?" muttered Yosuke while looking at his surroundings. "It looks just like the shopping district, but the sky…what's going on here?"

"Some weird places like this have appeared here recently. Things are getting so tangled; I dunno what to do..." whimpered Teddie with a sad tone.

"…hey, Teddie, why are you standing so far from us?" the headphones-wearing boy had just noticed how far the bear was from them. Teddie was originally leading the two had somehow slowly made his way until being far behind them. "You better not be planning to high-tail it if something does come up!"

"Of course not! I mean…" the bear averted his eyes, trying to look nonchalant as a pink blush tinged his cheeks…somehow. "I can't stand too close…I'd get in your way, and that, ya know…"

"Whatever you say, Teddie…" sighed Yosuke while shaking his head and looking at the 'fake' version of part Inaba. "Man, they really went all out on this… But out of all the places in town, why'd they replicate this one?"

Yu was also wondering the cause of that, and none of his ideas seemed to be good.

"How should I know? This is reality for the one who are here." cryptically commented the bear, making the silver-haired boy look at him in confusion.

"As usual, nothing you say makes any sense…" Yosuke turned away with another sigh before his eyes widened. "But wait… if this is our shopping district, then we're not far from Saki-sempai's…" the boy broke into a hurried run, his companions blink in confusion before running after him

After running a couple hundreds of meters, Yosuke stopped in front of a certain store with a rather weird vortex-like entrance instead of a door, which resembled the red and black sky that seemed to cover that world.

"I knew it! This is the liquor store that Saki-sempai's parents run!" the boy seemed deep in thought for a moment. "Does that mean that…sempai disappeared here? What could've happened…?"

"W-Wait a second…they're here!"

Both teens looked questioningly at Teddie, who was looking around, apparently panicking about something that only he knew about.

Yu felt the bad feeling of that morning come back at full force.

"Sha-Shadows…I had a feeling they were around! Th-they are going to attack…!"

The silver-haired boy froze when he heard something land on the ground behind him, with an audible, wet splat. Slowly, he turned around in time to see a trio of black, slime-like creatures, wearing blue masks for a face on, moving through the ground. All of them were staring directly at Yu and Yosuke seemingly uninterested in Teddie.

Both of them broke into cold sweet at feeling the HUNGER in those hollow 'eyes'.

Each pile of slime rose into the air, each turning into a spherical shape. The colour began to change until resembling some sort of pink and black striped pattern. Each of them turned around, revealing that they all had massive mouths with rows human-like teeth and a long, black, slobbering tongue.

The Shadows shot towards Yu first, who shielded his face with his arms while taking a step back, even as both Yosuke and Teddie screamed.

I am thou…and thou art I.

"What?" muttered the boy as his eyes widened.

Time seemed to stand still, even as Yu's mind went into overdrive, assaulted by a blur of images and sound.

A limousine going through the fog, a familiar girl joining the other residents in their velvet-covered abode…and then, everything changed, as if distorted by a kaleidoscope of colours.

Endless battlefields, always walking forward, never doubting his path…

The time has come…

The knight stood proudly, always wielding his blade without hesitation, always ready to fight alongside his fellow knights, always ready to give it all for the kingdom…

Always, until the bitter end, fighting for the glory of the King.

Open thine eyes, and call forth what's BEYOND!

Fate twisted and changed, and the entire world seemed to shake as the future was altered.

A blue spinning card floated down toward Yu's suddenly raising hand, power emanating from it and making the eerie creatures freeze in their tracks. The boy looked straight at it, as if in a trance, even more images coursing through his head as his eyes took into the card's design.

One side depicted a western knight of old, wielding a sword. His glasses reflected the dual-coloured mask design it had on the back it had on the back. Just under the knight's image, there was a single word written in English instead of Japanese, just under the knight's image, with the number zero written in front of it. A word that held a meaning of Power and ancient mysteries in it.

SABER

Instinctively, Yu spoke the word that suddenly came to his mind.

"Per…!"

A world the change the destiny of the world…

"…so…!"

And, this time, more than ever it had had before.

"…NA!"

The boy grinned, his eyes widening slightly as he crushed the card and was bathed in bluish-white flames, a mystic-looking summoning circle appearing under his feet.

The power that should have been called from within came instead from Beyond.

From beyond time and space.

A majestic figure emerged from the flames, a knight in white-silver armour over a black-blue bodysuit, his blonde hair shining under the eerie light of the TV world, the silver and blue sword he wielded in his hands seeming to shine with the glory of the Sun itself.

One of the shadows seemed to regain its courage and charged at the knight, who remained unfazed.

Then, his until then closed eyes OPENED.

In less than a second, the creature was dead, cut in half by a blade which moved at a speed no human could hope to follow.

The other two beasts roared in rage and charged at the knight, ready to avenge their fallen brethren.

The imposing being (For it was impossible to just call it a man) simply skewered one of the raging beasts with his sword, easily catching the other one by the tongue whit his armoured free hand, not even looking at it. Then, he simply SLAMMED the Shadow against the ground, with enough force to turn its body into a black smear that quickly turned into nothingness.

The whole exchange hadn't taken more than 3 seconds.

Yu's confusion and absolute shock, which was shared by the stupefied forms of Yosuke and Teddie, increased by tenfold when the knight approached and knelt before him.

"Upon your summoning, I have come forth. Under the Class of Saber and the Arcana of the Fool, I will be your Sword and Shield against anything that stands before you." the knight raised his head, his aqua blue eyes seeming to see into his very soul. "I'm Gawain, knight of Camelot, and now your Persona, my king."

"I-I'm Y-Yu Na-Narukami" stuttered the boy as a greeting/introduction unsure of what else to say to the clearly otherworldly being.

"The Contract is sealed, then. I will serve you to the best of my abilities, Yu Narukami" vowed Gawain with a solemn look. "Merely call and I shall come to your aid, my king."

With that, the imposing knight vanished, fading away in a flurry of blue flames. Even so, the silver-haired boy could still feel its presence, silently watching and lingering in the back of his mind, as if waiting for his call before even talking or moving.

Finally, the 'spell' that had immobilized the other two members of the group seemed to break, shown by how Yosuke quickly ran towards Yu's side with an excitement-filled face.

"Wh-what the freaking hell was that?! How did you do it?!" asked the boy with absolute shock. "Di-Did I hear you say 'Persona'?! What was it-I mean, what did you even do?! And…did that guy call himself 'Gawain'?"

"Ye-yeah, he did." muttered the silver-haired boy while looking at his hands with equal, if not more, shock than his friend.

It was to be expected, because, even though it wasn't a Japanese one, the legend from where that name came from was something that almost everyone in the world had heard at one point or another.

Gawain of Camelot, one of the Knights of the Round Table. One of the greatest warriors of the legendary King Arthur.

"Did you really somehow summoning a knight from myth?!" it was clear that the other boy was more astonished by the idea than her let on. "Hey, how do you think that…?!"

"Calm down, Yosuke! You're troubling Sensei!" suddenly interrupted Teddie while pushing the aforementioned boy aside.

"He-hey, I wasn't…! Wait, did you just call him 'Sensei'?" the boy's tone was full of incredulity as he watched the bear run at Yu's side.

"Gosh almighty, you're amazing Sensei! I'm one impressed bear!" excitedly exclaimed Teddie, all the while making exaggerated gestures to express his amazement. "I can't believe you were hiding such an amazing power! No wonder the Shadows were scared of you!" another realization seemed to hit the beat. "Don't tell me…are you the one who's able to bring people into this world?"

The boy nodded dumbly, unable to think of what to say as he kept staring into his hands. Whatever the hell he had done to call that 'Gawain' was making him feel a strange strain in his inside, as if a headache was forming into the bad of his mind.

"Hah! That's what I thought! This is really something impressing!" declared the bear before addressing the last member of their group with a totally normal tone. "Don't you think so, Yosuke?"

"Dude, you call him Sensei and then don't show me any respect?!" growled said boy before making Teddie fall over his back, only for the bear to immediately spring back to his feet.

"So-sorry..."

"Well, anyways let's move on." sighed Yosuke with annoyance before walking forward. "If we keep this up then I think we'll be fine from here on out…so, let's get back to the investigation!"

With that Yosuke strolled in through the portal door to the liquor store. Sighing and trying to ignore the strange feeling inside of himself, Yu quickly followed the other boy inside, hoping that they didn't get into any more troubles. Teddie also followed them, once again from a safe distance.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The interior of the store was dark, with various stacks of alcohol reaching the ceiling. Shelves were lined with bottles of various types of alcohol and brand. And, much like outside, there were whispering voices inside…only this time it was just one voice, and it was male.

"Saki, how many times do I have to tell you?!"

"Wa-wait, isn't that…Sempai's dad…?" murmured Yosuke with confusion, eve as Yu glanced around with a frown.

"You know what the neighbours say about you, right! Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You're the eldest daughter of a family who has owned this store for generations! Is it the money? Or did you meet some guy there?! Just tell me why you have to work THERE, of all places!"

"I…I can't believe this…She seemed like she had fun at work… She never said anything like this to me…" the boy trembled in confusion as he waked forward "You're telling me THIS was what Sempai had to put up with every day?!"

Suddenly, Yosuke walked over to the counter, having seen something that caught his eye. There, lying on the table, were many cut up photos. What got to Yosuke the most, but, was that all the photos…were of him and Saki. He picked one up and looking it over with confusion.

"It's… the photo we took the other day with the other part-timers at Junes…Wh-Why's it cut up like this…?"

Yu gave his friend a sympathetic look as he walked over to him; even as the boy picked another thing up, letting the boy see that it was a ripped-up movie ticket.

"Runway…Heart?" read the boy with a raising eyebrow, idly adjusting his glasses to mask his growing headache.

"I…gave Sempai that the other day…" Yosuke choked out with a pained and confused expression.

Yu turned to the boy and frowned once again, but before he could say anything, an eerily familiar voice echoed through the store, making him freeze in his tracks.

"I…never had the chance to say it…"

"Is that…Sempai's voice?!" cried the brown-haired boy while looking around

"I always wanted to tell Hana-chan…"

"Huh…? M-me…?" stuttered Yosuke with hope in his eyes. Was this the confession he has been hoping for…?

"…that he was a real pain in the ass."

Yosuke's arms went slack and the picture in his hands fell onto the floor, the light disappearing from his eyes.

"Wha…?"

"I was nice to him just because he was the manager's son, that's all!"

"P-Pain in the ass…?" Yu cringed upon hearing the pain in his friend's voice.

"Who cares about Junes, anyway? Because of that store, our business is ruined, my parents hate me, and the neighbours' talk behind my back!" there was something…dark and twisted in the words that Saki's voice was speaking, something that made the new presence inside Yu shift in place. "I wish that everyone…would just DIE…"

"I-It's a lie…" muttered Yosuke in shocked disbelief. "This… can't be…Saki-sempai was not like that…!"

Everything the boy thought he knew about Saki was just shattered within the past few moments, and it was clear that it was deeply affecting him. Yu wished he could do something to help his friend, but he didn't know how…he didn't understand Yosuke that well yet. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't try to…

"It's so sad…" a distorted yet familiar voice mocked, making the three freeze in their tracks. "I feel so sorry for myself… Boo hoo!"

Yu, Yosuke and Teddie slowly turned around, their eyes widening at seeing something that shocked them to the core.

Standing in the corner of the room, half-hidden by the shadows…was another Yosuke, except that he had yellow-golden eyes and a dark and sinister aura emanating from his body. A twisted grin was on his face even as 'he' looked at the incredulous teens in amusement.

"Actually, I'M the one who thinks everything's a pain in the ass!" he said scornfully before letting out an ominous laugh.

"H-Huh?!" Teddie's pupils shrank in shock. "Two Yosukes…?!"

Said boy scowled, throwing all caution to the wind and running over to confront the other him.

"Hey who are you?!"

"Me? I'm you, of course!" laughed the doppelganger while walking around the teen, who glared at him but didn't do anything else. "Which means that I know everything about you." the cruel smile on the copy's face widened. "You made everyone believe that you came here looking for Saki, right? Hah, what a fat load of crap! Truth is, you ONLY came here because you were looking for some fun, weren't ya? What else is there for you to do in this backwards shithole town?!"

Yu really didn't like where this was going, and the new soul inside of him agreed with him. This other 'Yosuke' seemed to be purposely trying to provoke his friend for some reason.

"Yo-you are wrong, tha-that isn't true at all!" strongly denied the boy, but his lookalike ignored him and kept going.

"You thought there was a chance you'd get lucky and become a hero! The death of your beloved Saki was just the excuse you needed to make the trip! Ahahaha!"

The brown-haired boy was starting to lose it, and the headache in Yu's head was getting worse by the moment.

"Stop spouting this crap!" angrily demanded Yosuke while shaking his doppelganger. "Just who the hell are you?!"

"I already told you: I am YOU." the smile in the thing's face became feral. "I'm your Shadow. All that's hidden within yourself."

"Screw that! I don't know you!" Yosuke clenched his teeth, even as Yu's headache arrived to its peak. "You…!"

"My king, stop him! It's a trickery of that foul abomination!" echoed Gawain's voice inside his head, making his eyes widen.

"Yosuke, wai…!"

"…you can't be me, you son of a bitch!" finished the frustrated boy, his friend's warning arriving too late, and then…

The Shadow started laughing. It started off as a quiet, dark chuckle, but soon it turned into a loud, maniacal laughter. His eyes shone brightly, almost menacingly.

"That's right! Say it again!"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Yosuke's face as he stared at his Shadow, Yu being too busy grabbing his pained head to repeat the warning.

"You…you're not me…! Yo-You're nothing like me!"

"Hmph." Yosuke's Shadow smirked. "Yeah, that's right…I am ME now. I'm not you anymore…see?!"

The boy stared at his Shadow, horrified when he noticed the dark aura emanating from it beginning to grow much darker. The aura soon engulfed him as blinding beams of light spewed dark waves of energy, several smaller bursts of darkness gathering over it.

"I-it's absorbing the smaller shadows in the area!" cried a terrified Teddie while running for cover. "The-they're fusing with him!"

Even as his warning ended, the display of light and darkness waned, and in the place of Yosuke's Shadow was now a large humanoid with spears for arms, one of a sickly golden and the other of a bloody crimson. His body seemed to be some sort of armoured bodysuit, with spiked boots and a spike-covered head, where a dark 'point' glowed in its right side

"I am a Shadow of your true inner self!" roared the abomination in which Shadow Yosuke had become, glaring down at his frozen 'original'. "And I'll crush everything that bores me…Starting with you!"

The humanoid monster lumbered over towards Yosuke, getting ready to use its deformed arms to impale him, the shocked and terrified boy seeming unable to even move. In that moment, Yu's headache seemed to recede, the boy gritting his teeth before raising his hand again.

"PERSONA!" once again, the card was crushed and the sound of shattering glass marked Gawain's appearance, the knight shooting forward at impressive speeds.

Gawain blocked the lance-arms of the creature and deflected them, forcing the Shadow off balance. Surprisingly, though, the being regained its balance with uncanny speed and tried to attack the Persona, who dodged the attack before engaging the abomination again.

"You won't touch my king's friend, abomination!" declared the knight while his sword clashed with the Shadow's arms.

'As I thought…this strange summoning has made my abilities to be severely limited.' darkly thought the Persona before pushing the enemy away with apparent ease, though once again being unable to do anything more than scratching it. 'Usually, I would have no problems with a demon of this level!

"Out of my…way, pretty boy!" growled the creature before spinning through the air and forcing the Persona to take a step back, even as he used his peerless skill to stop BOTH arm-lances with the flat of his blade. "DAMN IT!"

"That jerk…he isn't me…!" denied the trembling Yosuke while shaking his head, even as the battle of otherworld existences kept going. "We're nothing alike…nothing!"

"That jerk you speak of comes from a place inside your heart, Yosuke." reasoned Teddie, trying to make the boy see the truth even as Yu stood protectively in front of them, never taking his eyes off the fight. "It's a part of you!"

"No, it's not!" growled Yosuke in utter denial.

"You put on a good show of pretending to be all carefree and happy-go-lucky but you're really terrified of being alone!" taunted the Shadow while ducking under a slash from Gawain, batting the knight away with his right spear-arm, but the Persona didn't even seem to feel pain while turning in the air and engaging in battle once again. "You would do ANYTHING just to gain some attention, even becoming the clown of their lives!"

"No…that isn't me!" once again denied the boy, unable to accept the dark reality.

Gawain, meanwhile, wasn't having an easy time. The shadow tried to skewer him by rapidly firing its lances in and out at the knight, which seemed almost to extent just to try and hit him. The Persona avoided them by running along the wall with impressive agility, trying to find an opening to exploit and cursing once again the restrictions placed upon him by the strange summoning.

"You're not me at all!" Yosuke screamed once again, Teddie shifting nervously in front of him, not knowing what to do.

The boy suddenly tried to run away, but his Shadow suddenly disengaged Gawain and landed in front of him, batting him against the surprised Yu, who in turn fell into Teddie. Just then, the scared bear finally noticed ooze starting to form in corners and other places over the room.

"Oh no, he's attracting even more Shadows!" Teddie panicked as the dark beings slowly tried to find their way into the room. "Sensei, if we don't stop it soon, this'll get grizzly real fast!"

"I know everything about you!" the Shadow once again deflected Gawain's sword, the knight landing on a nearby beam before jumping once again at the abomination, only to be deflected once more, the surprised Persona noticing how the monster seemed to be getting STRONGER. "I know how pathetic you really are!"

As if summoned by the being's words, a pair of female Junes' workers appeared on the screens that were above them.

"Let's ask Yosuke for some help!" one of them said snidely.

"The prince of Junes?" the other asked, equally snide.

"He thinks everyone depends on him because he's the manager's son." the first one sneered

"What a loser!" the other laughed.

"You see that?! Everyone just barely tolerates you, and yet you still try to pretend that everyone's your friend!" taunted Shadow Yosuke, his dark aura growing even stronger.

"Shut the hell up!" demanded the boy while clutching his head

The Shadow leapt into the air once again, gaining an impressive amount of height and repeating the same attack of before, aiming to skewer Yosuke from above. The mad charge, but, was stopped at the last second by Gawain, who deflected the attack again with his sword, forcing the abomination to roll away before straightening itself, it's speed having grown noticeably.

"Your battle is with, me monster." growled the knight before engaging in a duel of assault and deflection with the Shadow, both his blade and the spear-arms of the creature moving so fast that they seemed to blur through the air, sparks flying everywhere.

"Here it comes!" declared a Yosuke that appeared in one of the screens. "Booyah!"

"But he took it the wrong way and now he thinks I like him…What an idiot." Saki's sneering voice declared.

"Living in the boonies bored you, so you decided to ask her out!" mocked Shadow Yosuke as he leapt away and tried to impale Gawain again, who dodged and weaved through all the attacks with unparalleled skill, but was still unable to strike a decent blow into the creature. "All you wanted was some cheap thrills!"

"You're wrong!" denied Yosuke yet again while trying to cover his ears. "You're wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong…!"

"You're better off dead!" the shadow made another attempt at Yosuke, but was stopped a third time by the shining figure of the Persona, even as Yu suddenly moved in front of his trembling friend. In unison, the knight and the boy reared back their fists, Gawain's armoured crashing hard against the Shadow's, sending it flying at one of the remaining beams, while Yu's once punched Yosuke in the same spot, having a similar effect that his Persona's.

"Oops. Wrong guy." said the silver-haired boy with an unrepentant tone, Teddie snickering because of it.

"Du-dude whaddya mean wrong guy?!" screamed a pained Yosuke while trying to get up. "Yo-you almost broke my jaw, dam…!"

"You loved her, didn't you?" Yu's sudden question seemed to freeze the other boy in his tracks. "Saki."

"Yeah..." admitted Yosuke while looking down in shame. "I…truly loved her."

"Then…isn't that enough?" questioned the boy while offering his friend a hand.

"I guess…you're right." muttered the brown-haired teen while accepting the offer.

"But she dumped ya!" smirked Teddie, making the boy glare at him.

"Shut up!" finally screamed Yosuke, his words seeming to echo through the TV world. "I knew it wasn't lying, but I was so ashamed that I didn't want to admit it." at the boy's words, his Shadow seemed to freeze mid-swing, Gawain don't even stopping to wonder why and taking advantage of the opening to cut a deep gash on the creature's chest, sending it flying back with a pained howl. "To get along with others, I had to change the way I acted. Yeah, even I think I'm a pain in the ass sometimes…But my feelings for her were real. That thing's a part of me, right?" the boy sadly shook his head, even as Yu smiled at him and the zone around them seemed to shimmer, the silver-haired boy's Persona being covered in a bluish aura. "When you get down to it, all of this…is me."

"NO! AAAGGGHHHH! YOU'RE SO FREAKING ANNOYING!" yelled Shadow Yosuke while getting up, blue static dancing about its body, which seemed to flicker in and out of existence, before glaring directly at Gawain's figure. "I'll kill you, dammed tin canned bastard!"

The arm-spears of the Shadow extended towards the knight with the speed of bullets, in a last ditch attempt to kill him.

The Persona didn't even move.

"Not today, monster." stated Gawain while letting out a deep breath.

The knight waited until both spears were close enough and then surprised the shadow by using his sword to make a large opening in between the two spears, dashing into the gap towards the now vulnerable Shadow.

"N-no stay back!" screamed the shadow, trying to withdraw its spears to defend itself.

It wasn't fast enough.

"You struggle in vain, monster! Begone!" roared Gawain as he closed the final gap between him and the Shadow.

The Knight of the Sun finally arrived before the monster's form and, before it could even scream again, cut off its right arm, quickly followed by its left, causing both spear-arms to clatter to the ground before vanishing away, black 'blood' shooting out of the pained monster's body. Before the shadow could even let out another scream of pain, however Gawain spun around and cleaved it in two, his blade shining with a yellow-orange radiance for a second.

The former lance-wielding shadow shrank away, reverting into a simple copy of Yosuke once again.

The knight never stopped pointing it's sword at him.

Calmly, Yosuke walked over to his shadow and knelt down by its side, pushing his hand on each of his shoulders, causing it to look up at him.

"You are me." accepted the boy with a tired smile. "And I guess that I'm you, too."

Yosuke's Shadow smiled and nodded before being enveloped in a blue glow. It rose into the air before it burst into a wave of blue flames that surrounded Yosuke, making the boy grunt in pain as he felt SOMETHING connecting itself to his very soul.

A summoning circle formed itself around him and, before Teddie's and Yu's surprised eyes, a new form rose.

It was a man of spiky black hair, dressed in a tight-fitting and green armour-bodysuit. In his hands, there were two spears, which shined with a glow beyond human comprehension, much the same as Gawain's sword. The longer of the two was a bright crimson red and the other was dark-golden in appearance. The other and most notorious trait he had was a tiny beauty spot under his right eye.

The knight opened his orange eyes and knelt before the surprised Yosuke.

"My lord, I am Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, Knight of Fianna." stated the otherworldly being with a tone full of utmost respect. "Under the Arcana of the Magician and the Lancer Class, I will serve from now on as your Persona."

With that said, Diarmuid vanished and in his place appeared another card like the one that Yu had summoned before, the figure of a spearman of past times, with the number one shining just next to the word LANCER. The card floated down over Yosuke's body and disappeared into a gentle light, which settled inside his chest.

"He's my..."

"...Persona." Yu finished for him.

"Narukami. You really saved my ass. Thanks, dude." muttered Yosuke with a grateful nod, even as he felt as a strain had just been placed inside his body.

"Till next time, my king. Call me if you need me." bowed Gawain before vanishing, the silver-haired boy feeling the knight returning to the back of his mind. He also felt relief surge through his body for some reason, as if a great weight had been lifted from it.

The headache pounding at his head didn't stop, though.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

After the whole ordeal with Yosuke's shadow, he and Yu decided to use Teddies' exit and return home, but not before promising the bear that they would come back, of course.

Quickly falling out of the TV, Yu landed again on one knee while Yosuke fell flat on his ass once more.

"Ow! My ass…" groaned the boy while rubbing his rear, trying to ignore the rising headache he was feeling.

"You guys came back!" cried Chie while bursting into tears, surprising both boys who, honestly, had almost forgotten about their friend thanks to everything that had happened

"Uh…what's wrong with you?" asked Yosuke with confusion even as Yu shook his head.

"Don't act like you don't know!" growled the girl before throwing the cut rope at Yosuke. "The damn rope snapped off as soon as you guys left and I've been worried sick this whole time! You jerks; I can't believe you guys put me through this! You guys suck!"

"I'm so-sorry, Chie." Yosuke said apologetically while laughing nervously.

"Me too." nodded Yu while massaging his pained head. "We didn't mean to worry you, I swear."

"…Y-you owe me ten beefsteaks." Mumbled Chie while crossing his arms and looking

"Come again?!" gawked the headphones-wearing boy.

'That was a quick recovery.' thought Yu with sweatdrop.

"I want ten orders of beefsteak!" repeated the girl in a louder voice. "And you CAN'T say no, get it?!"

"Ye-yeah of course, that's cool!" quickly agreed Yosuke, trying to get Chie to stop crying. "That's a great way to say we're sorry! Right, Narukami?!"

"Me too?" asked the other boy with confusion.

"He's getting me nikudon." said the brown-haired girl while wiping her eyes on her sleeves.

"Sure…you got it." agreed Yu with a soft nod, even as he took off Teddie glasses, doing his best to ignore the strange headache.

"Okay then…I forgive you." smiled Chie while both boys sighed.

At least things seemed to have calmed down.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later, Yosuke and Yu were walking home through the Samegawa Flood Plain using their umbrellas to shield themselves from the rainy weather.

"Man, I'm beat…" groaned the brown-haired teen while shaking his head

"Same here." agreed the other boy, the weird headache refusing to go away.

"…Saki and Ms. Yamano were thrown into that dangerous place, uh?"

Yu thought back to what Teddie had said to them before they came back to their own world.

"You wanna know what I think? I think that maybe the people who came in here were attacked by their Shadows, just like what happened with Yosuke!"

"If someone really is forcing people into the TV then we can't just ignore it." Declared Yosuke with an unusual determination. "We gotta figure who is doing it and make them stop!"

"Indeed. We made a promise, after all." stated the silver-haired boy, smiling softly as he did so.

"Well, you did anyway." sighed the other teen before grinning at him. "Hey...I think that, with you, I can really find the culprit and solve the case." Yosuke then held out his hand towards him. "I'll be counting on you, partner."

Yu only hesitated for a moment before shaking his hand, smiling at his new friend.

"Same here, Yosuke."

And behind both of them, the spectral figures of two knights, incredibly different and yet very similar, watched over their Masters with proud looks, waiting for the moment when they would be needed again.

And in the back of Yu Narukami's mind, a flame with the number 'One' burned to life and, slowly, another soul started to connect to it from Beyond…