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.

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[06/23 Thursday, Yu's Room, Dojima Residence, Inaba]

The clock struck Midnight and as expected the Midnight channel appeared on Yu's TV, on the screen Rise's shadow was smiling and displaying her bikini's bust and her rear end to the camera.

"Marukyu… I'm a spring flower blooming into a high school idol" Rise's shadow said "That's right it's me Risette and this time…." It took out a school uniform and showed it the camera with a shy look before perking up. "I'm going to take on the most extreme challenge."

"Woah, now this is my kinda show." Cu Chulainn said appearing in spirit form to watch.

Yu however either didn't hear her or was ignoring her as he and kept unconsciously hitting 'Record' on the remote several times while his eyes were glued to the TV screen which

"I'm going to strip for you" Shadow Rise proclaimed as the camera zoomed in on her body again.

"Strip?" Yu began sweating and hitting the record button faster, he was abruptly crowded by his Persona's appearing in Spirit Form a number of male's (and a surprising number of female ones) were staring intently at the screen. Although Gawain looked rather flustered and was trying to not to look.

"Oh I'm so embarrassed" She giggled and the camera zoomed in on her eyes "But if I'm gonna do it then…I am going to go all the way. I'll take it all off for you. So stay tuned. "

She then blew a kiss and the TV turned off. Yu was brought back to reality by his cell phone ringing.

"Hello?" Yu asked.

"DUDE?! Did she say strip?" Yosuke yelled excitedly down the phone causing Yu to move it away from his head and glare down the phone at Yosuke.

"Yes, she did," Yu replied.

"This is getting crazier and crazier!" Yosuke exclaimed.

Yu stopped and played the disc he'd recorded.

"Calm down…" Yu said with annoyance.

"Yeah, you're right." Yosuke paused. "That means she's in there, right?"

"Yes…" Yu said.

"That means we failed" Yosuke groaned "We even knew the target was this time we still could stop it."

"Let's go tomorrow…" Yu directed

"Yeah got it…" Yosuke hung up.

Yu had hit play on the disc and smirked as the broadcast had been successfully recorded. He stopped it and ejected the disc before putting it safely where no one but him would ever find it.

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[06/24 Friday, TV world,]

The next day after classes had ended everyone had gathered together. Yu had a feeling so he did a walk around for clues about Rise and got her cellphone strap from her grandmother. With any luck it would help lead them to Rise in the TV World. When they entered the TV world they saw Teddie hunched over looking very depressed.

"Teddie? What's wrong?" Yu asked.

"You were all having fun without me… You fur-got about me!" Teddie complained sadly. "You abeardoned me!"

"You get lonely?" Yukiko asked surprised.

"Yes…I've bearcome a beary gloomy bear…"

"Yeah, Yeah! Cut the crap…" Yosuke said dismissively

"DID YOU JUST CALL MY FEELINGS CRAP?!" Teddie yelled with anger.

"I'm just a stupid bear who doesn't know where he came from…" Teddie cried and started rolling around on the ground.

"Stay still!" Kanji said.

"I live in oblivion and no one comes to visit me…" Teddie continued sadly.

"Listen, Teddie, We need…" Yu said.

"I got so lonely that I wanted to cry I even tried…but nothing came out!" Teddie said stopping his rolling around and lying on his stomach. "When I'm alone I start to think and that just makes me lonelier…"

"We'd never forget about you, Teddie," Chie said tenderly.

"Sometimes we even think about you…" Yukiko said.

"Does that mean I can still score with you?" Teddie asked his disposition changing very quickly.

"Nice recovery!" Chie chuckled

"Can't we just make that subject off limits for good?" Yukiko pleaded with a depressed tone.

"Hey Narukami, I gotta asked what's with the backpack?" Yosuke asking pointing to the backpack which Yu had brought with him.

"Yeah I was kinda wondering that too." Chie admitted, Yukiko agreeing with her.

"It's a change of clothes." Yu replied with a shrug.

"Dude what do you need clothes for in here?" Yosuke asked.

"Well what happens if what I'm wearing gets torn or dirty?" Yu replied answering a question with a question. "I can't go out looking like I haven't washed in days."

"Eh, good point." Chie said accepting the answer.

"Oh come your just gonna accept that?!" Yosuke cried.

"Yup." "Yes" Uh huh." The rest of the team answered.

"Ah whatever." Yosuke grumbled.

"Teddie… we're looking for Rise Kujikawa have you seen her?" Yu asked dangling the charm from Rise's cellphone that he had gotten from Rise's grandmother, earlier that morning.

"Rise Kujikawa?" Teddie asked in confusion

Teddie sniffed it and then led them down a yet another path that they hadn't been on before. He led them to a building that looked similar to a night club. It had a neon sign that said 'Marukyu Striptease.'

"Rise's in here?" Yu asked.

"I smell her loud and clear…" Teddie declared.

"Say…isn't this one of those places you find near some inn in some washed-up tourist town…?" Yosuke asked.

"NO! Not by MY family's Inn." Yukiko yelled appalled.

There were triangular folding signs that advertised various other girls. However, one poster in particular caught Yu's eye, it was in a frame and had lights surrounding it, on the poster it read "Special Guest…Rise Kujikawa!"

"Damn it" Kanji complained trying to squint in the fog. "I can barely see."

"Oh yeah right you never did get a pair of glasses for this place did you Kanji?" Chie noted.

"My bad" Teddie said apologetically "I totally forgot plus it wasn't foggy when you came over, here for you"

Teddie handed Kanji a pair of glasses which he put. They allowed him to see however, they were in fact a pair of gag glasses that the bear had made when he was bored.

"Bear" Kanji growled "Why the hell did I get these?"

"What's wrong you don't like them?" Teddie asked retreating behind Yu.

"HELL NO I DON'T LIKE THEM" Kanji yelled angrily causing the bear to flinch and look for another pair.

Yu thought carefully before nodding to himself and power walking through the entrance alone.

"Hey wait up Sensei" Teddie yelled following Yu.

The others all nodded at each other and ran to catch up.

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When they into the striptease, the first thing the team saw when entering was that Yu was no there. Instead they saw a familiar heroic figure stuffing clothes into a familiar looking backpack.

"Hey it's that Samurai guy from the news." Chie exclaimed "But where did Narukami go?"

"Excuse Mr Samurai where did our friend go?" Yukiko asked the superhero who finished stuffing the backpack and hefted into onto his back.

"I'm afraid your leader needed to take breather, but never fear as your neighbourhood superhero I volunteered to lead you to victory here!" The samurai declared making his Y pose.

"Narukami give it up man you're embarrassing yourself." Yosuke stated with a sigh.

"Jeez Yosuke why are you such a buzzkill?" Chie sighed giving him an irritated look.

"Yeah Yosuke we already know its him he's just trying to lighten things up." Yukiko said.

"Yeah don't get us wrong senpai it's awesome that he actually that hero guy but there's no need to be such a downer." Kanji said agreeing with the girls.

"What?! Aw come on!" Yosuke cried before turning to Diarmuid for support. "Come on Diarmuid be honest you agree that this is ridiculous right?"

Diarmuid could only shrug apologetically, as much as he wished to agree his lord had asked for honesty and honestly he believed that despite its ridiculousness their leader was trying to keep things light-hearted in a serious situation. Realising that he was out numbered Yosuke simply hung his head and gave up.

"Well no one can accuse this lot of being boring can they?" Drake said to Li Shuwen with a snicker.

"Indeed not." The Assassin grinned.

"Come let us find our missing idol!" The Samurai declared materialising Galatine in his hand and marching forth deeper into the shadow infested dungeon.

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As they ventured deeper in the group made good time thanks to Chie's martial arts and Yukiko's crack shooting, with his Axe-Sword Kanji demolished any shadows that tried sneaking up on them. With every floor that they went through the shadows got stronger and tried harder to stop them. Eventually they came to the sixth floor and Shadow Rise's voice echoed around them.

"You came" Shadow Rise giggled "But still, I'm a little embarrassed…So I'm gonna turn out the lights!"

"Whoa! It's so dark in here!" Teddie said "This is dangerous! We should be careful going onward, Sensei!"

"Hello every-wait! What the….who are you?!" Shadow Rise's voice demanded.

Suddenly a loud sound came from ahead, the sound of metal against what was unmistakably flesh and then came a loud crash and a metallic clang, then the lights came back on.

When the lights came back on the team ran ahead to find a room with a dying serpent shaped shadow which quickly vanished as it died. Looking up they saw the curtain at the far end of the room which lead to the hallway with the stairs had been slashed open and the doorway around it completely destroyed.

"What the hell happened in here?" Chie asked examining the damage.

"Something beat us to the shadow and smashed forced the way forward open." Kanji pointed out.

"This shadow beary strong." Teddie said "Whatever did this must be beary powerful."

"This room seems like a set up to those mid-boss shadows that we've been forced to fight in other dungeons." The Samurai stated "So whatever Shadow Rise was talking to destroyed it for us."

"Yeah but why?" Yosuke asked. "Could it have been the killer?"

"That doesn't make any sense, he'd want to hinder us not help us." Yukiko stated disagreeing with Yosuke.

"Whatever did this had an enormous presence." Li Shuwen stated causing everyone to look at him. "For a moment in the darkness when we heard those sounds I felt a presence so enormous that it couldn't have been human, it was far too powerful but it vanished when the lights came back. We should avoid fighting it, even if you summoned us, without the ability to use our Noble Phantasms to their full measure we wouldn't last very long."

This caused the team to gulp nervously.

"Let's get going, I don't want to be here if whatever did this decides to come back." Yukiko said.

"Agreed, onwards." Space Samurai Y ordered.

The team was now moving a bit faster than before.

When the team were about halfway down the hall, a pair of large metallic claws gripped the edge of the destroyed door way, a pair of feminine eyes peered after the masked team member.

"Senpai." She whispered before her claws reduced their size to that of regular hands and she concealed her presence again, ready to resume stalking her target.

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Eventually the team reached the final level of the strip tease, only having to stop for a breather a couple of times.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Shadow Rise announced. "Let me guide you to the sparkling world of wonder!"

A spotlight came on and some introduction music started playing. The centre stage rose and there were six girls who all looked alike.

"That's a lot of Risettes" Chie commented.

Just as Chie said there were six Risettes in all. One was dressed with a bonnet and had a dress with an old styled blouse jacket and thigh high stockings and shoes. Another that had a tuxedo jacket with a blouse, a skirt, and black stockings. Another Risette was kneeing a soccer ball while wearing a green soccer outfit and white high socks. The fourth was a cheerleader with a belly baring blouse and the skirt's waist band was in a V-cut, with high socks and was waving gold-pom-poms. The Fifth was in a grey business suit with slacks and wore glasses. While the sixth was in an Orange Kimono with a Square pattern and had a black obi to it. However, unlike the other five who had pigtails, this one had her hair done in a ponytail. However, all six of them had glowing yellow eyes.

"Yeah! And I know them all! "Yosuke exclaimed getting worked up. "The first one is from her third photo shoot. The one in the soccer outfits from her second… The Cheerleader…"

"All right… This show is called Risette's Dynamite Body. Are. You. All. READY?!" Shadow Rise asked winking.

Suddenly the platform she was on rose from the ground elevating her so she was the centre of attention.

"I AM!" Yosuke cheered a little too excitedly "RISETTE!"

"Ohhh…SHUT UP!" Chie snapped giving Yosuke a kick to the back out of annoyance knocking him to the ground.

"Today, I'm here to bare everything to you all" Shadow Rise declared. "What? Do you think that's a FIBBY-WIBBY?!" She held her hand to her ear as if the group had actually spoken.

The Masked man stared at Rise's Shadow along with the others, although he was actually trying to think about what to do, while the others were simply stunned.

"Well, You'll just have to figure out if I'm telling the lie or telling the truth…You're about to meet…" Then she held her index finger up… "The. Real. ME."

Exotic music began playing and the six other Risette's started clapping in time to the music as Shadow Rise had walked up to a stripper pole and started spinning around by walking, then again when she jumped up with her feet bunched up to the backs of her legs.

"I hope mine wasn't like this…Man this is brutal," Kanji sweat dropped.

"What you're seeing are Rise's true inner feelings, of course they're brutal!" Teddie stated.

The Hero thought back to what Rise had said at Samegawa. "The girl everybody makes a big fuss over…isn't the real me."

Rise's Shadow began suggestively rubbing her thigh against the pole and did so for a few seconds before the music stopped abruptly as she got no audible reaction.

"HMPH! Talk about a dead crowd." She snorted "Well then, maybe it's about time I brought out our SPECIAL GUEST!"

"What guest?" Yosuke grunted as he got back up.

"Today's Special Guest is…"Shadow Rise paused for dramatic effect.

"Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do" The Shadow Risettes began imitating a rapidly beating drum.

"Rise Kujikawa!" Shadow Rise said gesturing to the girl question, who was kneeling on stage.

Rise was still dressed in her work clothes for the tofu shop. The apron and scarf over her head were still on.

"Stop it! That's enough!" Rise said to her Shadow.

"Rise!" The Masked Hero called to her before some Shadows came down which were dressed like detectives with trench coats and hats, like something out of an old movie.

"They're here! Grizzlies!" Teddie said running for cover.

"Everybody listen up! Remember to mind your manners and keep your hands off the dancers at all times." Shadow Rise said as the fuzz shadows pulled out revolvers and started firing bullets which were far more powerful than bullets from ordinary revolvers had any right to be. This everyone to scatter behind some seats that were there much like a club or restaurant.

"Where's my glasses?! Shit! Where the Hell did they go! I can't see without those things!" Kanji said as he crawled around on the ground looking for his glasses.

"Include!" The masked hero summoned Galatine by including Gawain, the team minus Kanji who was still looking for his glasses Included theirs as well.

"Let's do this quick!" Space Samurai Y ordered leaping out of cover along with the others.

Yukiko made quick headshots with her pistols, Chie started attacking the Fuzz Shadows crushing them with fists and kicks, while Yosuke and the Samurai quickly tore apart the ones foolish enough to get close. However as soon as the first wave was destroyed more descended from the ceiling to replace them, in greater numbers this time.

"They keep coming!" Chie cried, using Sphere Boundary to sneak up on the shadows and catch them from behind.

"This" Yukiko ducked under a shot and fired back at the shadows "Is" again "getting really" a mall volley of shots forced her into cover again "ANNOYING!" several squares opened up in the space above her and ship cannons emerged from them and fired decimating the shadows that were shooting at her.

"NO! This isn't real!" Rise said on stage.

"Easy for her to say." Yosuke grumbled ducking her a fuzz shadow which swiped at him before shoving Gae Dearg into its face.

Shadow Rise was using the pole again, pressing her chest and wrapping a leg around it. "Oh, but it is. You wanted people to notice you." Then Shadow Rise wrapped herself around the pole and spun and rubbed her thigh suggestively against it. "Looky! Looky! Everyone come and look at me!"

"Stop it, you're wrong! I'm nothing like that!" Rise insisted starting to become hysterical.

"You don't think so, huh? Then just who is the real you?" Shadow Rise demanded irritated at her counterpart.

The other six Risettes gathered in a circle and towered over Rise, all of them giggling mockingly.

"Well go on!" Shadow Rise said. "Tell us who the real you is!"

"The Real Me… is just…" Rise began, but couldn't finish as even she didn't know the answer.

"Damn it! Where are those things!" Kanji growled in frustration at being unable to see through the fog.

"Are these what you're looking for?" Teddie smugly said holding a spare pair of Kanji glasses which were regular ones instead of gag ones.

"I can rock these." Kanji grinned taking them and putting them on.

"You're all goin' down. PERSONA!" Kanji said, as the shadows began advancing on him.

He summoned Hercules, the mad demi-god roared in challenge to the shadows and began charging at them using his axe-sword to demolish all opposition.

"Sorry for the wait!" Kanji said, folding his arms as Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko turned over to him.

Kanji smirked even as more Fuzz shadows dropped from the sky.

"C'mon," He said taunting them angrily and uncrossing his arms "C'mon! C'mon! C'MON!"

"Wow! He's awesome!" Yosuke said as Hercules continued destroying any shadows who came at him, tearing them to pieces with single blows pf his fists or axe-sword.

"He's a bulldozer!" Chie grinned.

"So you still haven't said who the real Rise is…" Shadow Rise said approaching Rise on the stage.

"I'm the Real Rise!" The Risette with the bonnet said with an echoing voice.

"I'm the Real Rise!" The Soccer-playing Risette said also with an echoing voice.

"I'm the Real Rise!" The Kimono-wearing Risette echoed the others.

"I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW WHO THE REAL ME IS!" Rise cried as their voices echoed in her mind.

"I'll tell you. I'M the real RISE! You see, I am YOU and YOU are ME."

"You're wrong! You're not me!" Rise said.

"I'm sick and tired of putting on a fake smile an always having to play the flirt," Rise's Shadow taunted.

Rise started to sob, she was close to her breaking point.

"Watch closely now…" Shadow Rise said starting to untie the bikini top's straps. "And you'll see the true ME!"

"That's not true, you can't be…" Rise denied.

"STOP! DON'T SAY IT!" Chie shouted.

Space Samurai Y remained silent, choosing to instead watch.

"You are NOT ME!" Rise denied her shadow again in anger.

Purple energy surrounded Shadow Rise as the transformation began. "And now….HERE IT COOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEESSSSSSSS!"

The Black and Purple smoke which had formed around the Shadow swirled for a few seconds before it cleared, her appearance had changed. In her place was giant fox with nine tails that seemed to move independently of one another.

"I am a Shadow…of your True Inner Self!" The Shadow proclaimed.

The shadow had glowing red fur which seemed to shine like fresh blood.

"What…is this?" Rise asked, looking at her Shadow.

"RISE!" The team called her name as they approached the stage.

"Samurai! It's…you…" Rise said as she fainted.

"Chie! Yukiko! Guard Rise!" The Samurai ordered the two.

"Got it!".

"Right!"

"Yosuke, Kanji let's go!" The Samurai summoned Gawain, Yosuke followed suit with Diarmuid.

A green field exuded from the eyes of Rise's Shadow and blanketed the Personas allowing the shadow to see what her scan was telling her.

Gawain: Class: Saber, Fool Arcana. Great at close range. Will be 5 cm to the right in 1 second. Strength quite strong.

Diarmuid Ua Dubhine: Class: Lancer, Magician Arcana. Great at close range. Will try to flank me in 2 seconds. Strength is so-so.

Hercules: Class: Berserker, Emperor Arcana. Great with Physical Attacks. Will charge head on. Strength…He's Extremely Strong!

"I see you!" She said before despite her size weaving around their attacks like they were nothing, before blasting them away with a large ball of magical energy from mouth which sent them all flying away, crashing into the wall near the entrance.

"What?!" Yosuke exclaimed with disbelief.

"Teddie guard Rise!" Chie ordered urgently, having Li Shuwen put Rise down on the chair next to the bear.

"Okeydokey!" Teddie waved as Francis Drake and Li Shuwen went at Shadow Rise.

Li Shuwen: Class: Assassin, Chariot Arcana. Great with Physical Attacks, Strength is Decent.

Francis Drake: Class: Rider, Priestess Arcana. Great ranged attacks. Weak at close range. Strength is not bad.

Both will flank at roughly the same time.

"You're so transparent!" Shadow Rise giggled as she blocked a bombardment from Francis Drake and used one of her tails to smash Li Shuwen away causing him to become visible again.

"How did she do that?!" Chie cursed seeing her persona be detected and smashed away.

"Wait…that light?" Yosuke pointed out.

"It's scanning our Personas and see's our attacks." The Masked Hero observed grimly.

"Analysis Complete!" Shadow Rise stated.

"Change of plan people, Include now!" The team set to work on their leader's orders, dematerialised their Persona's and Including them. The Samurai had Galatine in hand. The rest of the team followed suit, Yosuke had Diarmuids spears, Chie had Li Shuwens fighting abilities, Yukiko had Francis Drake's pistols and Kanji was wielding Hercules Axe Sword.

The giant fox smirked and wiggled its tail in a 'come hither' like gesture.

"I've had enough of her smirking." Yosuke growled taking the bait and charging directly at the fox "I'm gonna turn you into fox skin rug!"

"Wanna bet?" the shadow asked still smug.

"It's a trap you idiot!" Chie yelled at Yosuke with a growl.

Yosuke however ignored her and leapt the Shadow's face intent on spearing its eye's. Only to be snatched from the air suddenly by one of the fox's giant tails.

"Should've listened to her moron." The shadow gloated tightening its grip on Yosuke.

"Surprise Bitch!" The shadow was surprised when it receiving an axe-sword to the jaw knocking it off balance and forcing it to drop Yosuke.

"Come on, you really thought I was stupid enough to just charge ya without a plan?" Yosuke asked with a smirk "I gestured to Kanji quietly to follow my lead; I figured if you had your attention me you would be able to block him. Our leaders not the only one who can come up with plans of attack."

"That was a sneaky sho-AAARRRGGGHHH!" the shadow bellowed with pain as Yosuke stabbed its foot with Gae Dearg.

Angered, Shadow Rise swiped Yosuke at Kanji knocking them into one another and sending them away.

"Alright so who's next?" The shadow asked. "Hey where'd the masked one go?" The shadow demanded, Chie and Yukiko looked and saw that their leader had indeed vanished.

"Samurai this really isn't the time for hide and seek." Chie yelled hoping her leader would come out.

"Include: Atalanta" The Masked Man's voice yelled from somewhere above.

"Alright what do you think you're doing….Aha!" The shadow swiped an arrow from the air that was shot from the shadows above "Nice try but-YEOWCH!" The fox was cut off as a second arrow shot mere seconds after the first struck the fox in the chest from another angle.

"Oh-I get it!" Yukiko exclaimed in realisation.

"What do you get?" Chie asked not following.

"It's simple, he fire's an arrow from the shadows to get her attention" Yukiko explained to her friend "And while she's focused on that he quickly moves to fire an arrow from an angle in a blind spot she then exposes to him."

"So she can block or dodge attacks she see's coming but not the one's she can't." Chie stated catching on taping her palm with her fist.

The game of cat and mouse continued for a few seconds, Yu landed several arrows into the fox, four into the chest, two on the front right leg, and three in the front left leg. Sadly, they weren't doing enough individual damage. However sooner or later the pin pricks would start adding up.

"Alright, I've had enough." The shadow roared blocking another arrow and ignoring the sneak shot which bounced off a bony part of the limb it struck. "What are you gonna do about this?!"

The fox opened its mouth and sent a medium sized ball of destructive power at her other self who was with Teddie. Left with no choice but defend his friends, the hero sent an arrow flying which met the orb mid-flight and destroyed it cancelling both attacks out.

"There you are!" The fox let out another orb at Space Samurai Y's position, he was not quick enough to move and the attack destroyed the beam on which he was perched sending him falling to the ground.

However instead of impacting on it the several of the fox's tails erupted from the walls apparently coiled around the supports within, each one grabbed a limb until Yu was left dangling in front of the fox mere inches' from the ground, completely at its mercy.

"Oh no Sensei!" "Yu!" "Narukami!" "Senpai!" His friends all let out yells of concern upon seeing his predicament.

Suddenly small orb flew out of the fox's mouth but it did not strike Yu who was helpless instead it flew and hit just short of Teddie and Rise sending the bear flying away. "Oops, sorry about that!" The shadow said with a giggle "I was aiming for both of them."

"TEDDIE!" the team called out in horror, Teddie was not moving even as his name was called.

'Damn it, this thing is too strong, at this rate….' The Samurai thought back on the previous battles with the shadows and was struck with an idea, calling upon Nero's Charisma he looked at Rise.

"Rise!" the girl looked at the masked hero and gasped and as he moved his head to his free hand and used it to pull the mask off revealing…

"It's you, Narukami! You're the Samurai?" Rise gasped as he shook the wig off his head and allowed the mask to clatter onto the floor with it.

"Listen, it's ok if you don't know who the real you is." Yu said pulling all of Nero's charisma which was a fairly decent rank thanks to her Imperial Privilege skill. "If you asked other people that question, they wouldn't to give a proper answer either. Who are we? Why are we here? What's the Point? Where are we going? These are the questions that people spend their whole lives trying to answer. Don't feel pressured about not knowing the answers lots of adults don't have those answers either, I can't promise you'll find an answer but trying putting your faith in us and let us be your friends, you may not find the answer but with us at your back you'll be a hell of a lot closer to one than you ever could get alone!"

Thoughts whirled inside Rise's mind. Ever since she started her career, the people she thought of as friends were always after something, when she dared to let some new person close they became snobby and stuck up acting superior and even ruining the lives of people who even looked at them wrong. When she found out she was quick to drop them publicly, and became reluctant to put her faith in anyone who wanted to be her friend, but something deep inside told her she could trust the boy in front of her. With this Rise found her strength and stood up fixing her Shadow with a hard stare.

"When I started my career, people wanted to use me to become famous, they abused it and made others, miserable, it became hard to trust people so I tried to isolate myself but being alone I lost sight of myself, I may not know who the real me is but I feel like I can trust Narukami, so I'll put myself out there just once more and try to find the real me!"

The shadow suddenly let out a cry of rage and pain, static flowing over its body, as it weakened.

Yu felt himself getting free of the screaming Shadow , whose tails started to whip around and crack the ground, making Rise scream his name in worry again as he did his best to roll out of the way and closer to her...

'It's time.' echoed a familiar voice on the boy's mind, even as his gaze shot towards the raging nine-tailed fox.

"Wha...?" started to say the boy before feeling a splitting headache overcome his mind, almost making him scream.

He saw a knight fighting against another one, a scene he had already seen in his dreams...

'Let yourself...'

He saw the Velvet Room, Igor's eternal smile widening as he stared straight towards him...

'...become the Hero...'

And finally, he saw a shining card being snatched out of the air, being brought down instead of shattered...

'...and take another step on your destiny, my dear guest.'

Yu Narukami stood up. Somehow, somewhat, he knew what he had to do.

"Naru...kami...?" muttered Rise from where she still stood, staring straight at the boy's back.

"Don't worry, Rise...I will help you." muttered the leader of the Investigation Team as he adjusted his glasses before raising a closed fist. "Because that's what a Hero does. GAWAIN!"

"I'm here, my king." answered the Persona as he appeared behind his Master in Spirit Form, somehow feeling a new light shining brightly in him.

Without a word, the burning card of 'SABER' appeared in front of Yu.

This time, however, he did not crush it with the sound of breaking glass, neither did he grab it to let it turn into his partner's weapon, no.

He snatched it out of the air and slammed it against his chest, even as a Magic Circle formed under him, raw power unlike anything before erupting from it as everyone in the room stared at him in shock.

"INSTALL!"

A burst of pure Prana engulfed the boy's form, blinding everyone for an instant before he stepped forward, Yukiko and Chie gasping in shock as Kanji and Yosuke let their jaws fall open in disbelief.

Their leader now stood there, his 'Hero Costume' gone and now clad in a VERY blue and grey under suit, with an equally familiar white-silver armour over it. On his right hand, the metal gauntlet tightly closed over the guard, Galatine shone silently under the fading light of the magic circle. His glasses were gone, but his eyes had turned the same aquamarine shade of his first loyal companion, as unimpeded by the fog of that world as he always was.

From her place behind him, Rise stared with absolute awe, unable to even utter a word at the sheer presence that the boy now projected, feeling her cheeks heating up slightly at his new and imposing form.

Finally, he spoke, his gaze zeroing over the shocked Shadow.

"This ends now, demon." Yu's voice announced even as Gawain's own echoed his, the silver-haired boy feeling a power unlike anything he had ever felt coursing through him. "You shall not harm my friends any further."

"Rrrraaaghhhh! DIE!" The shadow screamed sending another ball of energy at the boy.

This time however Yu didn't move, instead raising Galatine and holding his ground.

"Narukami!" "Get outta the way dude!" his friends cried as the orb approached.

A small aura of prana surrounded the sword, and the orb impacted kicking up large dust cloud.

"So much for him….What!?" The shadow gloated before being stunned at what it saw when the dust cleared. Everyone stood in disbelief, as when the dust cleared Yu remained not only standing but unmoved, having caught the orb on his blade.

"Here, this is yours!" Yu cried pulling back and batting into the orb, sending it back where it came from.

The orb screamed through the air flying with far more force than it originally had possessed and when it hit the shadow in her face a loud crash and some cracking of bone was heard, over the screaming of the shadow in pain.

"DIE DIE DIE!" The shadow began thrashing about lashing out with its nine tails blindly, the orb had damaged its sight.

One the tails approached the Narukami boy from the side, when it came close he raised his sword and caught the tail on it. He twisted the sword around entangling the tail on it.

"There you are!" The shadow sent three more tails at him, but they met the same fate as the first and were entangled on the sword. "Come here!"

With a roar of anger, the Shadow pulled with her tails, dragging the transformed teenager towards herself, intent of unleashing an orb of destruction at point blank range.

She didn't know it would have been useless. Even the small display with the sword from before had been just to trick it into believing her attacks could still damage him, for now her magic would barely make him buckle. Such was the power of having a B-Ranked Magic Resistance.

"…that was your last mistake." He said calmly.

Suddenly, without any apparent effort whatsoever, Yu swung his sword-arm, the Shadow realizing its terrible mistake when her tails were cut off with the holy edge of Galatine with no effort.

Unforgiving aquamarine eyes met golden ones as the holy sword was impaled into its foxy head, the momentum she herself had given the transformed Hero being her own downfall.

Absolute silence filled the area for a few seconds before, in a burst of darkness, the abomination collapsed back into the bikini-clad copy of Rise Kujikawa.

A now flat and conscious Teddie approached the team, having recovered from the blast. Hi suit was burnt and marked but he didn't seem to too badly injured.

"Teddie!" The team called his name. "You're alive."

"Sorry for worrying you all, but I'm still here." Teddie said before looking at Rise. "I know how you feel…and how bad it hurts…when you don't know for sure…who you really are. It's hard. But you don't have to worry about it alone. You and me… We can figure it out together."

"You and me?" Rise asked.

"Yeah, and we have Sensei and the others too."

Rise looked at the team who were smiling.

"I'm sorry to put you all through this…" she said apologetically.

"Look, just take it easy for now," Yu said with a kind smile.

"It's been a long time, since someone said that to me." Rise smiled before getting up and approaching her Shadow.

"I'm so sorry." She said kneeling down next to her Shadow. "Look, I've fought so hard to try to figure out who the real me truly is… But I realized…no amount of searching is going to help…because there was no real me to find."

"Does that mean that there's no real me, either?" Teddie asked himself aloud.

"But I realized that Risette, You, everyone you're all a part of me."

The Shadow blinked, and then was bathed in blue light. It rose into the air before and burst into a wave of blue flames that surrounded Rise, making the girl grunted in pain as she felt something connecting itself to her soul.

A summoning circle formed itself around her and from it a new form rose. Standing before Rise a girl wearing an old style kimono coloured blue; it had loose arm sleeves that were draped over most of her arms, leaving her shoulders bare. She wore Black shoes that served to increase her height ever so slightly, with indigo stockings over her legs. The most noticeable thing about her however was the pair of orange ears peeking out through a mass of pink hair and a fox tail poking from the rear of clothing, an ornate, old fashioned golden mirror orbited her like a moon.

"Hello master! I am Tamamo no Mae." The Caster introduced herself energetically "In class of Caster under the Lovers Arcana I am your Persona!" The fox eared woman then turned into a Tarot Card.

The card had the image of a person wearing hooded robes, with a staff in their left hand and a tome under the right arm. The roman numeral VI was present next to the word CASTER. It hovered for a moment before turning into a gentle blue light which became part of Rise.

"Persona?" Rise said before she collapsed.

"Rise!" Yu said before he caught her and gently helped her to the ground.

"Dude! No fair!" Yosuke complained

"She just completely passed out," Yu said as he returned to his hero uniform as the Install ended.

"Who could blame her after all that?" Chie sighed.

"So what was that thing you did?" Yukiko asked

"Oh yeah it looked really cool." Yosuke said.

"Install." Yu said recalling the word. "It's the next step, its more than Include, I got more than Gawain's sword, but I got his skills, his powers, his abilities with a sword and I felt way more powerful, like there was hardly any distinction between him and me."

"So another way to kick sounds good to me." Kanji said.

"There is no 'real me'!" a dark deep voice echoed, causing everyone to turn around and saw a crimson air exude from Teddie, who was still flat yet was somehow standing up.

"No 'True Self'!" The dark voice continued.

"Huh?! Who said that?!" Teddie said, and then he turned around and saw a larger version of Teddie that had yellow, human-shaped eyes. "What the HECK IS THAT?!"

"Oh balls!" Kanji cursed.

"No way!"

"Aw man." Yosuke grumbled.

"Is that Teddie's other self?" Chie asked.

'Wait, there's something strange about it' Yu thought, feeling a strange vibe come from the shadow.

'Indeed something is not right here' Medea warned 'Be careful there is more at work here than just a shadow.'

'She is correct be on guard' Medusa warned.

"SUCH IDIOTIC FOOLISHNESS!" Teddie's shadow grinned and expelled a fog from himself that blanketed the room.

"The truth shall always be shrouded in fog!"

Then a large clawed hand pushed some fog out of the way.

There was now a pit where the Shadow Teddie resided. One eye was now pink and green as there was a large hole on the left side of its head but there was no blood or even signs of anything besides a black void.

"I am a Shadow of your True Inner Self. Try though you may to find meaning…You will never know for sure if it is the truth…or a lie."

Then a vacuum began sucking everything into the large void. Shadow Teddie was taking care not to choke the air from then, however he was sucking in everything else. The team held on to nearby large debris that had implanted it's into the ground for dear life.

"He's gonna suck us in!" Chie yelled.

"So knowing that…why even bother seeking the truth at all?" Shadow Teddie asked.

"AHHHHH!" Teddie was pulled in to his Shadow vanishing into the darkness.

"TEDDIE!" Yosuke cried as the bear vanished inside the shadow.

"How can you possibly find something when you don't even know what you're looking for? The truth you seek will only bring you suffering."

"Why do you say that?!" Yu replied.

"Let me impart one bit of truth upon you…YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE HERE!" Shadow Teddie said ignoring Yu as he suddenly stopped sucking things into himself.

"Why did he stop?" Chie asked nervously.

"I get the impression we are about to find out." Diarmuid commented.

Suddenly out of the crack in the shadows face a thick black mud like substances began leaking. It came fell out slowly at first but got faster as it overflowed and began spilling out onto the floor.

"What the hell is this crap?" Kanji yelled nervously as the black ichor began approaching them, burning some flammable pieces of the room as it advanced.

"Master summon me please!" a voice begged Rise from within her.

"Persona" her Arcana shattered and Tamamo no Mae appeared, holding the mirror and that had been previously orbiting her when she first appeared.

"Get away from that substance" she yelled "It's pure concentrated evil, like a curse, there's no telling what might happen if it touches you."

Yukiko ran and tried to exit but the curtain that served as a door was solid as rock. She even had Francis Drake try to blow it open with cannon shots but to no avail.

"The doors sealed shut, we're trapped." the inn keeper in training yelled.

"What are we gonna do?" Chie began panicking.

"We have to get higher" Yu replied "Gawain!"

"Right" The Persona answered his master's summoning and materialised.

With nary a thought the Knight grabbed his summoner who in turn grabbed Rise and held her tightly as the Persona leapt up as high as could perching near the top of the one of the steel beams around the room, Tamamo was quick to join her master. The other's quickly followed suit having their persona's materialise and each clinging as high as they could to avoid the black substance below that seemed to devour the floor below them, it didn't take long for it to reach the rear wall and soon it had nowhere to go but up. Francis Drake and Li Shuwen perched on the same steel beam. Diarmuid implanted both his spears into the wall high up and grabbed Yosuke as leapt balancing upon them.

"Ah man, now what are we gonna do?" Yosuke panicked "We can't stay up here forever."

"What's going on?" Yu asked Rise's Persona "Teddie never rejected his shadow so why did it go berserk like this?"

The fox eared Persona stared into her mirror for a few seconds before answering.

"It looks like something interfered before he got the chance." the caster replied "I don't know what it is but it's powerful and this mud seems to be some sort of extension of Teddie's shadow."

" It cut us off." Yu realised.

"Whaddya mean?" Yosuke questioned

"Think about it, in all our previous fights with shadows we've managed to encourage our friends with our words and weaken the shadow. Whatever's behind this cut us off from Teddie so can't weaken the shadow like we normally do."

"Gah, sneaky bastard" Kanji growled

"So what are we gonna do about it?" Yukiko asked the boy.

"Kanji come over here and take Rise." Yu ordered.

"Sure, Hercules let's go" Kanji's Persona roared and after hefting its master onto its shoulder began punching holes in the ceiling as it made its way over to Yu.

"Sempai what are you doing?" Rise asked she was handed over to Hercules.

"I'm going in." Yu answered simply narrowing his eyes as Teddie's shadow which simply stared back at him coldly.

"What the hell?"

"Are you crazy?"

"You won't survive in there you could die"

"Maybe, but I have to try." Yu replied ignoring his friend's objections "I can't leave Teddie to face this alone. Besides, this is my fault. Gawain let's go."

" Very well" Yu placed both of his arms around Gawain's neck freeing up the knight's arm.

Gawain summoned Galatine and with all the force he could muster slashed at the beam, causing it to topple into the rapidly rising black mud. He dashed across with all the speed he could muster and leapt form it to other debris, closing in on the shadow.

"BEGONE!" Teddie' Shadow swiped one of its claws into the mud creating a large wave. Gawain was unfazed and skilfully leapt over it and landed on the shadows large head.

"Are you sure about this my king?" Gawain asked his sovereign "I don't know what help I'll be inside this creature!"

"You've done more than enough I'll take it from here" Yu replied dismissing his Persona "Hang on Teddie, I'm coming."

With that Yu clambered down towards the large hole which still had the black mud pouring out of it. He took a deep breath and leapt into the hole diving into the mud.

"He went in" Chie cried

"Is he ok?"

"He's alive, I can tell that much." Tamamo replied staring into her mirror "Whatever this other force is, it's placed something inside the shadow to make it go Berserker, and whatever it is, it's block me form seeing any further."

"Please, come back Narukami" Yosuke prayed

The remaining Persona users could watch and pray as the mud below them continued to rise.

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

Yu was surrounded by darkness and felt a heavy weight on his entire body, but kept swimming regardless. He had to reach Teddie, it didn't matter what this mud was. It wouldn't stop him from saving his friend nothing would.

"Oh? nothing will stop you will it?" a familiar voice questioned

As Yu continued swimming he saw Nanako appear in his vision which a malicious smile on her face...no this was not Nanako.

'What are you?' Yu questioned in his thoughts as he stared at the copy of Nanako.

"I am the truth that resides inside of your 'Teddie'" the Nanako look alike said "I am All The World's Evil, I am Angra Mainyu and I am also Teddie. Knowing this are you still sure you won't turn back and abandon him?"

'What do you mean?' Yu asked as he decided to keep swimming.

Nanako kept up with him, staying in front of his vision as he kept clawing through the mud which seemed to burn him all over, but he ignored the pain and kept pushing on.

"Even if you are by some miracle able to save Teddie what then?" Angra Mainyu asked "My true form is Evil itself so will you truly accept him as a friend knowing that his true inner self is All the Worlds Evil?"

'Yes' Yu replied simply his reply causing the mud to flinch as if in surprise

"What?!" Angra Mainyu seemed to be shocked "Don't be absurd, your Teddie is evil incarnate. Why would you want such a repulsive creature by your side knowing that it was overflowing with evil?"

'If Teddie's true inner self is All Good in the World then I can accept that, and if his true self is All Evil in the World then I can accept that too.' Yu answered 'To be perfectly honest, I don't care what his true self is. I will fulfil my promise to him and more importantly than that he's my friend and nothing you say or do can change my mind.'

Again the mud flinched and seemed retreated away from Yu.

"You would put everything you know and love in danger of being destroyed by All The Worlds Evil just because you want to believe in your empty friend? What kind of choice is that?!" Angra Mainyu demanded.

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

Teddie was inside his Shadow and was very confused. He was surrounded by the fog but for some reason he couldn't see through it like usual and he was standing on a strange black mud substance.

"Huh?! What is this place?" he asked unable to see a thing

He kept looking around, when he looked behind him he saw his Shadow who was also there with Teddie.

"AHHH! You're here too…"

"This is where you will fade to nothing!" Teddie's Shadow said.

Teddie started sinking into a black pool that he was able to walk on before.

"HMMM!" Teddie began panicking. "WHAAAAAAAA!" he cried as he was pulled in. "WHAT THE HECK IS THIS PLACE!"

"You were NOTHING to begin with!"

"NOTHING?!" Teddie yelled as he kept panicking.

"You have no memories of your past! The truth is you are all the Evil in the World" the shadow replied

"Evil...I'm not evil"

"You hold within you all the Evils in the world." Shadow Teddie stated "Deep down you know this and seek to disappear before you can inflict your evil upon anyone else. So you will become nothing."

"No...it can't be true...no..."

"...die!" a familiar voice called out to the bear who perked up a bit before allowing himself to continue sinking.

"I thought I heard Sensei's voice just now." Teddie sighed with sorrow "But that can't be. I'm empty and deep inside I have all the world evil. Why would he want to be near me?"

"TE...E!"

"Sensei?"

The blackened mud began bubbling up near the bear; it began to rise as if trying desperately to keep something hidden. It was to no avail as Teddie recognised his Sensei clambering out of the mud.

"Sensei you're here"

"Teddie, come on, let's go" Yu said extending his hadn't to the bear "Everyone's waiting outside."

"I can't go Sensei" Teddie replied with a sad look "I'm nothing, and all I carry is evil inside."

"So what?" the bear looked up at his Sensei "That just means you're more like one of us!"

"One of you?"

"Human" Yu explained "All humans have the capacity for good and evil inside. Just because you know you have one doesn't mean you don't have the other in you somewhere. After all if you all evil you wouldn't have let us out when we first came here. Remember?"

"Yeah, I do remember. When we first met..." Teddie trailed off "But.."

"So then let's go and find your answers together. We'll find out who you are and I'll prove that there's more than just evil inside you. We'll do it together."

Tears fell from the bears eyes and he took Yu's hand, he was firmly pulled out of the mud.

"What an incomprehensible choice!" the shadow remarked.

"Include Gawain" Yu summoned Galatine into his hand which began to shine with the light of the sun. "Galatine guide us out of here."

With a tight grip on Teddie, Yu was pulled by the sword and plunged into the mud. They shot through it faster than Yu had come through it before. Within moments they could see light, as they got closer the holy sword cleaved a black orb like object in two as it shot both of its passengers out of the shadow.

The shadow let out a cry of pain as it crumbled and faded away taking the rising mud with it. The hole it had been in sealed up as well as it returned to its original form.

"Holy crap, he did it" Kanji cheered

"Awesome."

"He plunged through all that evil with sheer willpower?" Tamamo said with awe "That's incredible"

The rest of the team dropped the ground and dematerialised their Persona now that the danger had passed.

With wonder, Teddie looked up at the forming being, a mass of darkness in humanoid shape that stared at him for a moment before it 'pulsed' and became a young man of dark skin and golden eyes, his body filled with countless of strange black markings that seemed quite sinister to see. His chest was bare and he wore little clothing to speak of, the most prominent maybe being the red bandana around his head. On his hand, there were two strange and bizarre claw-like bladed weapons. Sword-breakers

There was nothing amazing about this thing...person. Unlike the other 'Heroes' that everyone in the Investigation Team had gotten, he did not have any glorious aura, commanding presence, terrifying power or anything at all. In fact, looking at him the teens were barely able to feel his existence as more than a human one.

But the bear-like creature to which with it was connected could feel IT.

The Pain. The Hate. The Emptiness. The Darkness. All of it and MORE, pulsating under that fake appearance that had long-since lost all its meaning.

Above all of it, though, he could feel how TIRED the spirit of the being was.

'He' had carried all that was Wrong with the World on himself for most of his life, and long after it should have ended. For no real reason, just because he happened to be chosen.

Under all that darkness, malice, EVIL...the stuffed bear-Shadow felt the long-forgotten image of a child asking 'WHY?'.

The nameless one in front of him never got an answer. But...maybe, just like he had just discovered about himself, he could give his existence a new meaning. Together, both of them.

"...I see there is no need to say anything." finally spoke the man with a voice that seemed like a distorted and darker version of Teddie's one, which honestly put all of the Investigation Team, sans Yu who had not mentioned the burning pain on chest, on edge. "Call me Angra Mainyu. I have no other name to speak about. As your Avenger and under your Star...let us see what this world has to offer, yeah?"

And with that and a hollow smile, he vanished into a card depicting a haunted-looking man chained down, with the english word of 'AVENGER' under it, which then proceeded to sink inside Teddie with the characteristic bluish glow.

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

when they got to the exit Teddie laid down flat then he started to do sit-ups.

"At least until I grow all my fur back, I'm going to bury myself in training. Just you wait until I make my comeback. It's going to be amazing!" Teddie said. "It'll be a major event, and then you'll be begging for my help again!"

"See you later then Teddie" Yu waved goodbye to the bear.

The others all said their goodbye as they left the TV world. Before leaving Yu felt not one, but two souls connect to him from beyond through the bond with Teddie. He thought of it as odd but decided to check on it later. His attention refocused on the burning pain on his chest and his rapidly draining strength as he went through the exit.

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

The Team exited the TV at Junes, it was late into the afternoon and very few people were around.

"Man that was a serious trip." Yosuke groaned "I'm gonna sleep like a log tonight."

The others all mumbled in agreement but fell silent as they heard the sound of a body hitting the floor.

"Oh no." Rise cried causing everyone to look back and see Yu lying face up on the ground. "I think he's unconscious."

"Let's get this thing off him." Chie said kneeling down and undoing the front of the costume.

When it was opened up they all gasped at the horrible burns across his front and going around to the back.

"Holy shit, that looks major." Yosuke gulped "Second degree burns at least."

"He acted like it was nothing on the way back to the exit." Kanji said with Awe."

"Never mind that we need to call an ambulance." Yukiko exclaimed.

"Aw man what are we gonna tell 'em when ask how it happened?" Yosuke asked. "Junes could get shut down for something like this."

"Yosuke, this is more important than the stupid store." Chie yelled angrily at Yosuke's priorities.

"I know, I'm just say-GAH YEOWCH!" Yosuke was cut off when a small shadow jumped on his head and used it as a spring board to land on the floor, sending Yosuke onto his face.

"Is that a fox?" Chie asked

Indeed, before them was an orange furred fox with several scars on its right eye, forehead, back, and left leg. It was also wearing a red apron with a heart pattern. It approached and settled at Yu's side before withdrawing a leaf from behind the apron.

"What's it doing?" Rise asked as it suddenly put the leaf on the centre of Yu's chest were the burns were the worst.

A blue glow enveloped the injured boy and before their eyes the burns rapidly faded away leaving nothing but healthy skin. The fox gave out a low how and vanished darted away.

"That's incredible, was that leaf magic or something?" Rise asked seeing Yu's breathing become relaxed and steady.

"Hey Yukiko-senapi haven't you heard of that fox before?" Kanji asked looked to her for confirmation.

"Oh yeah, that's the fox that lives at the Shrine in the shopping district." Yukiko realised "I wonder why it came all this way to help?"

"I don't know but were lucky it did." Kanji stated "It saves us some major trouble."

"Hey, we should probably get him to a bathroom and change him into normal clothes before someone see's him and starts putting two and two together."

"Oh shit yeah." Chie said.

"Here's the bag, I put the mask and wig in it earlier before we left." Rise said holding up the backpack "It has his regular clothes in it."

The team then proceeded to awkwardly sneak their unconscious friend to the bathroom, in order to keep his heroic identity a secret.

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

[06/23 Thursday, Tatsuhime, North Shopping District Inaba]

At the deserted shrine Aika stood out of sight behind it, waiting. Hearing a thud from atop the shrine she saw the Fox looking down at her before leaping to the ground.

"Good work partner." Aika said to the fox.

She dug into her bag and pulled out a bowl of freshly cooked meats and put it down on the ground. Out of a nearby hidden den three cubs emerged enticed by the smell of the meat.

"When you're done, can you return the bowl?" Aika asked receiving an affirmative howl from the fox.

With that, the girl walked away, after all these deliveries wouldn't do themselves.

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

[06/24 Thursday, Deserted lot behind Marukyu Tofu, Inaba]

A mere day since being rescued Rise received a text from Yu asked her to come this deserted lot. In the middle of the lot was a small box with a folded up letter on it. Approaching she saw the letter said 'FOR RISE' on it.

The idol picked up the letter and opened the box. Inside of it was a blue domino mask. Picking it up and opened the letter, she saw instructions.

'Dear Rise, please install Caster and put on the mask afterwards. All will be revealed, from Yu.'

"Vague instructions" Tamamo noted appearing in spirit form "Well what do we have to lose? This could be fun."

"Alright here goes." Rise summoned the card and concentrated, like Yu a magic circle appeared beneath her. "INSTALL!"

She slammed the card against her own chest and was enveloped by a burst of pure Prana. When it faded she found Tamamo's mirror floating in front of her. Her entire appearance now matched that of her Persona. The Pink hair, the clothes, even the fox ears on her head had feeling when she touched them, she shivered when she stroked the tail poking out from her backside.

"Oh you look so cute looking me master!" Tamamo exclaimed with joy.

Rise decided to complete the instructions and put the mask on.

"Up here." She heard a familiar heroic voice and leapt up on the roof of Marukyu. She landed next Space Samurai Y.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Rise asked "You were really injured after yesterday."

"Nope, I feel better than ever probably thanks to that magic fox you told me about." The Hero stated. "Now then, my reason for bring you here was simple, I would you to be my partner in heroism!"

"Me?!" Rise asked flustered "A superhero?"

"Is that a no?"

"No, I'll do it." Rise nodded with a smile "You make it look like a lot of fun. But I need a superhero name."

"Oh, use my name master." Tamamo suggested excitedly "Between that and the Install and the mask no one will figure you out."

"Alright, from this day forth I am the great heroine Tamamo-chan!" Tamamo-chan declared striking a pose like a capital T.

"And I am her partner Space Samurai Y! Woah!" Just as he went to strike his pose the samurai lost his balance and bounced backwards on his head before fall out off the roof and crashing into some garbage cans.

The Foxy hero couldn't help herself and burst out laughing. It felt strange doing this, but in a good way. Even though she was behind a mask, it felt like she was free, she could do anything and not have to worry about embarrassment, or repercussions or anything.

Watching her from below after recovering from the crash the masked man felt another soul connect to him from beyond.

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

AN: A big thanks once again to SaintInfernalNeos for the scene's he contributed to this chapter.