Fate/Reach Out

Chapter 41: Ethical Effort


Philosophy was never a well-liked class in Yasogami. It was hard enough in the rest of the curriculum to study and research how to answer questions in topics like literature, history, and science. There was usually only one right answer to such questions. But not Philosophy.

And King Moron made sure to hammer that point across, much to the dismay of his students.

"The Greeks broke their ancient philosophy down to three sciences: physics, ethics, and logic," he explained. "Physics obviously relates to the laws that make up the world around us, which we discuss through the use of math and science. The logic part comes in via common sense, based on part of the universal laws and experience. It's the part where you come up with your damn memes and jokes."

Although the class was silently digesting his lecture, a number of them rolled their eyes in an effort to fight the urge to groan or express displeasure vocally. King Moron never missed a beat in squeezing in some insulting barb to them.

"And to round it off, ethics are the difference between right from wrong. What determines what is good or moral choices. I'm sure you brats were all taught such ethics when growing up, like how to keep your yaps quiet or disciplined when you do something wrong."

Yosuke scoffed under his breath, "Like any of this is important."

"I heard that, Hanamura," the teacher said. Right away the teen flinched and tried to look inconspicuous (paying attention, writing 'notes' on his paper). "You have trouble with authority? Well, maybe if you apply philosophy into your daily life, you might understand how 'important' it really is. So tell me, what do you plan to do in your future?"

"Huh? Oh, well… just kick back in a manager's office with a beautiful wife, nothing special."

Morooka's frown narrowed. "I believe I owe you an apology, Hanamura."

"Really?"

"Such a simple dream has no need for any critical thinking, so it's wasted on you." Right away Yosuke's hopes were dashed, feeling unfairly put down by King Moron. Shirou did feel the statement was unfair, no matter how true it might have been.

"What about you, Emiya? What's your plan for the future?"

Oh, so now it was his turn. Well, if he was going to be publicly embarrassed, might as well do it with gusto.

"I want to be an ally of justice." He said clearly. "I want to save people like a hero would."

He heard Yosuke snort in front of him. A few other students giggled as well. And Morooka just stared at him, baffled. Clearly no one expected such a childish life goal from Shirou, of all people.

"Why?"

Shirou blinked, almost missing the question. "Huh?"

"Why do you want to be an ally of justice?"

He had plenty of reasons, but all of them were personal, private, and a sensitive topic to go over. "I just…do. That's all."

His teacher scoffed, before walking back to the blackboard. "Let me rephrase the question, Emiya: do you HAVE to be an ally of justice, or do you WANT to?"

Again, Shirou was confused. Looking over to Satonaka next to him, he could see that she and the other students were sharing similar expressions of bafflement. "…is there a difference, sensei?"

"The need to do good can be expressed as 'duty', while the want is out of the interest in 'self-love'," Morooka explained, as he finished writing the English words "GOOD WILL". "Nothing in the world, or even beyond that for that matter, can ever be called good or moral unless it has a reason to be. A 'good will'. You can list so many different virtues as to why you do good things: smarts, athletics, judgment, tenacity. But they can just as easily be bad virtues if, say, the serial killer had them. Thus, making it a bad will."

The casual mention of 'serial killer' perked a few students' attention, the Investigation Team included.

"If you truly just want to help people out of the goodness of your heart, then it can be called a good will. If you have any sort of ulterior motive in mind, then it can't be called ethical, even under good intentions. Compensation, notoriety, prowess… like it or not, the ends will not justify the means as they are never the end until the day we die."

Dead silence. Shirou was mystified. It was typical to feel like dying when going through King Moron's rants and spiels, but this felt uncomfortably dark.

"So, wait," a student asked, raising his hand. "Does that mean there's no meaning in life at all?"

"If you ask philosophers in the field of Nihilism, then yes, life ultimately has no meaning. But we're not talking about that yet. We're going over Kantianism."

Then, Morooka lifted his textbook to rest open on one hand and began reading. "'We have, then, to develop the concept of a will which is to be esteemed as good in itself without regard to anything else. It dwells already in the natural and sound understanding and does not need so much to be taught as only to be brought to light. In order to show this, we shall take the concept of duty. It contains the concept of a good will, though with certain subjective restrictions and hindrances, but these are far from concealing it and making it unrecognizable, for they rather bring it out by contrast and make it shine forth all the more brightly.'"

Shirou could see why Morooka was a teacher for a reason. When he got into his lectures, he had charisma that commanded others to listen. Shirou felt especially drawn, hearing the theory explained so clearly to him. Except not many students seemed interested at all. They were either dozing off or looking at their textbooks in a way to ignore him.

Morooka continued reading. "'On the other hand, it is a duty to preserve one's life, and moreover everyone has a direct inclination to do so. But for that reason, the often anxious care which most men take of it has no intrinsic worth and the maxim of dosing so has no moral import. They preserve their lives according to duty, but not from duty.'" He snapped the book shut in his hand, looking directly at Emiya in particular. "In short, an act of kindness or heroic justice can only be called morally good if it's acted on a strong duty, or obligation."

Had it been anyone else, it might have been profound or deep. But the silence was more of apathy than awe, as if they had heard such spiels before.

"At least according to Kant," he said, before casually setting the book down and pacing the classroom. Just like that, the moment was gone. "And personally, I think Kantianism is garbage. It revolves around the idea that humans are just rational creatures, limiting our potential. There are many other empirical theories that argue against this, stating what they think is the real reason to do ethical actions."

Yosuke, more annoyed than usual from the class, couldn't stop himself from crying out indignantly. "Then why the hell are you teaching us a theory you don't even believe in?!"

"Because I'm teaching you little brats how to think for once!" King Moron roared back. "Think on what you personally think is important, just like all these thinkers did! Laying the groundwork of research for others to expand and grow from! That's the whole point of philosophy!

"If you don't like something, then argue it! Look for something that makes sense! Preach it to the heavens, for all I care! You can agree with me or not. Like Kantianism or not. Like Nihilism or not. But never assume you know everything. That's what Socrates taught us; true wisdom is knowing you don't know everything."

At that moment, the bell to end the day had rang, letting the class heave a collective sigh of relief. Morooka was first to collect his things off the front desk, before giving one last announcement. "Consider that your homework assignment! Find an empirical theory you believe is true to some form and why. I expect it to be ready when you take finals."

The majority of the class groaned and expressed annoyance. Not as loudly or visually, as he always looked for an excuse to lambast someone.

With the students free to spend the rest of the day as they wanted, they paid no mind to their teacher leaving.

It was the last time any of them saw him alive.


July 10th, Shopping District, Early Morning

For some reason, Shirou felt the need to walk by the Shopping District. He rationalized that it was to check up on Kanji, or how Fuji-nee was doing in her new apartment. Maybe even do a jog to work on his cardio. He ignored the nagging knot in his stomach that something was wrong, as he brushed it off as nerves after a harrowing rescue. He'd lost an arm after all, and nothing short of divine intervention from a friend fixed it.

The fog was still lingering after days of rain, giving the town an eerie look in the early morning. It was hard to see a few of the buildings. Inaba was normally quiet and inactive, but it could easily pass as a ghost town if tourists didn't know any better.

It was just very early morning, and not everyone would be up yet. He didn't think his friends would be up unless they had a job, like the inn or Junes. And he knew for sure that Taiga wouldn't be up unless she had breakfast to look forward to. Yes, he just needed to get her breakfast. Some eggs and rice might be good.

Yes, maybe even some tamako kake gohan, with soy sauce, mirin, chopped nori, a second egg, and maybe some red sakura denbu-

Red?

Shirou doubled-back from his walk; on the street pavement was a blotch of dark red liquid, dried and splattered as if falling from the sky like a raindrop. His sharp senses told him what it clearly was, but he denied the possibility. Even if he could see and smell other red markings next to it, also dried up from the mid-summer heat.

Against his better judgment, Shirou slowly craned his head up to see where it had come from. His peripheral vision noticed a telephone pole close to where he was standing, but he ignored that. It had to be just a coincidence.

But nothing could deny the truth of what he saw dangling in the sky.

A mangled corpse hanging from a water tower, supported by a twisted (broken?) leg clutching the railing. Dried blood having once spilled from stiff limbs and dangling parts of clothes. A familiar position that he had never seen before but had heard of firsthand.

Worse… it was someone he recognized.

No.

No, no, no no no!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A scream broke out from a startled woman just leaving her house. Suddenly the street was more aware, as others looked out their windows and doors. Already murmurs started to rise, and many pulled out their phones to call the police or take pictures.

Shirou didn't stay for the gathering, as he had a more pressing concern to look into. He hurried down the street, at least being quick but conspicuous enough not to look suspiciously involved.

When he made the turn at the corner, he sprinted for all his worth to Fuji-nee's address. She had to be fine. There was no way she was caught up in this now of all times, months after she appeared on the Midnight Channel, right?!

Shirou arrived at the building that was her living address and found the apartment door she was in. He was reaching for his spare key to her door in his pocket but stopped when he noticed that the door was ajar and broken at the lock. He gulped and pushed the door open, walking inside.

He didn't need to be a magus, or a detective really, to know there was a scuffle here. Granted, Taiga Fujimura never really learned how to clean up after herself unless it was on a plate. But dirty clothes? Papers and pens for grading? Manga and light novels left half-read? That was one kind of disorganized mess.

It wasn't like a pushed over sofa, or shattered glass from a beverage. And… it was so small he barely noticed walking over the small flat, but there were a few pieces of shredded cloth that looked like they belonged to her green dress.

There was no body… yet. Taiga was nowhere in the apartment, and the worst one could assume was that there had been a fight in her room. A kidnapping, maybe? Or even…

He looked over to the table stand, where a big, blocky-sized TV stood. Slightly shifted off its original resting place, judging by the indent it left where the dust hadn't collected over.

There was no mistake of the implication. She was pushed into the other world by the killer. "Dammit. Fuji-nee…"

No, worrying about her wasn't going to help. He might have been too late for one teacher, but there was time to save the other, surely.

With nothing else in the room to find, he walked briskly out the door and dialed a number on his phone. "Satonaka? Get the others. We have another victim, possibly two."


Junes Food Court, Afternoon

"Wait, King Moron? Seriously?!"

It was no secret that many Yasogami High students hated the meanest teacher at their school. Deep down, Yosuke hoped he was the culprit involved in the string of murders lately because he seemed like a likely scapegoat. What's one more justification over his seemingly irrational hatred over students and their hormones?

But there was no joy, relief, or satisfaction that he died like this. He was an asshole, but not even he deserved to be a murder victim. No one deserved to die like this. And on top of that, Taiga Fujimura was likely thrown in too?

"I confirmed as much when I first saw it and heard others from the crowd as well before the police arrived," Shirou explained. "It was our teacher, all right."

"B-But that breaks all the rules!" Chie stammered. She didn't know if it was the summer heat or stress, but even wearing summer casual clothes didn't help them from feeling this distraught. "What about the Midnight Channel? Or the news? No one would seriously think about him through the talking board thing, either!"

"It can't all just be a coincidence up until this point, right?" Rise wondered fearfully. "I mean, killing one person instantly and then sending senpai's guardian inside at the same time?"

"Maybe we don't know anything about the Midnight Channel," Yukiko said. "Or our culprit, for that matter."

"Dammit!" Yosuke slammed his fists on the table. "After all that, we're back to square one?! I mean, trying to catch a culprit even the police couldn't find? What the hell were we thinking?"

"We were thinking of preventing another death like this from happening."

Somehow, Shirou's cutting words snapped them out of their cloud of despair. Now that he had their undivided attention, he continued. "We've prevented three potential deaths so far and have come out stronger each time for it. If we stopped here because of a setback, then the culprit wins. Fuji-nee's still out there and I'm certainly not going to give up now. I made a promise to her to get out of this case alive.

"And so what if we don't know everything about the case? Or the Midnight Channel? We'll just keep figuring it out. That's what King Moron taught us, remember? 'True wisdom is knowing you don't know everything'."

The tension around the table eased considerably, and it was clear that his words had gotten through to them. Although still worried of the daunting task ahead of them, it was all the more reason they needed to work together able-minded. In particular, Chie and Yukiko exchanged determined nods and smiles.

Rise clutched her hands close to her chest and beamed. "Ooooh, my fragile idol heart's swooning, senpai! You really are a cool leader!"

"Man, you make it sound so easy, partner," Yosuke sighed with a ghost of a smile. "But yeah, we promised the bear too, didn't we? Can't really give up after coming this far, or else he'd be bawling his eye stamps out."

"Hey, that's right!" Chie exclaimed. "Teddie should know what happened to Fujimura-san and King Moron! Let's go see him!"

"But what about Kanji-kun?" Yukiko asked. "Shouldn't we check up on him, just in case?"

Shirou had considered that and figured checking up on him meant 'ask him to join the team'. Knowing Kanji, he'd do so in a heartbeat and put his physical prowess to good use. But for all they knew, he was probably still under close watch from Naoto, and by extension the rest of the police department. "We'll check up on him later, after we get this matter sorted out. One more day of rest might be good for him."

"If you say so…"


TV World, Teddie's Hub Space

The entrance to Teddie's world looked as dour as expected for a floor with murder outlines, but it was still nice to see it look a little home-y with Teddie's sleeping arrangements set up. It was his home, after all, and he knew the team would come through the same TV every time.

"Hey, Ted? You got a min…ute?" Yosuke trailed off as they neared the corner of his 'room'. Everyone was similarly dumbfounded and silent.

"Uh, hub! Huuh! Whoa! Haa!" Teddie grunted with each bounce of his small feet. If that wasn't enough, he moved his equally short arms up and down.

"Is he… exercising?" Chie ventured.

"Looks more like he's flopping around like a fish," Rise said.

"Ha! Hoa! Huh?" Teddie stopped mid-bounce, and his expression brightened seeing everyone. "Oh! Shirou-sensei! Everyone! You're here!"

"What was all that about?" Chie asked.

"Well, I've been deli-bear-ating. You guys have been doing all the fighting with your Personas, while little 'ol me is just stuck with a nose getting more and more clogged up." The bear then leaned forward in a stretch, trying to reach his toes. Given how top-heavy his build was, he managed only a few inches. "I thought that -urk!- maybe if I get a little closer to my dream bod, I'd awaken a Persona or something too, maybe."

"You have a dream bod?" Yosuke teased with a smile. "What, like one of those bodybuilders from Kanji's sauna?"

"I was thinking more like Shirou-sensei, actually. He's a lean, mean, stud-scoring machine!"

Shirou pinched his nose close to his eyes. He could feel the stares of his teammates directed at him ranging from amused to annoyance… and Yukiko seemingly uttering a dark curse under her breath. "Well, as flattered as I am of your goals, Teddie," Shirou began. "I'm afraid this visit is business-related."

"Oh, kinda figured," Teddie frowned slightly and stood back upright. "So, what's up?"

"Did you notice anyone getting thrown into the TV last night?"

Teddie "Hmm"ed as he stroked the spot that was likely his chin. "So, I wasn't just imagining things. I definitely smelled two- no, three people coming in at once at some point. Through the same TV even, but that's about it."

That threw the group for a loop. "Three people?" Yosuke echoed.

"I know, right?! Luckily, it only really changed one spot, so my world didn't get any more messed up than usual. Except I think it got really, really messed up compared to the other places. Like dark and ominous-y."

Right away, Rise moved several paces away from the group and summoned her Persona. Himiko moved her head back and forth like a radar, blipping to her visor the changes in the TV world. "Teddie's got a point. I'm sensing a big shift up north of here, bigger than anything before it."

"So, what, the culprit is pulling off triple-time?" Chie asked. "I mean, I can understand maybe Emiya-kun's guardian. But no one else appeared on Midnight Channel that we've missed, right?"

"Maybe they're her peers?" Rise suggested, dismissing her Persona. "Close friends she brought with her on her furlough?"

"No," Shirou said firmly, shaking his head. "Fuji-nee said she came alone to Inaba, and part of the reason I assume is because she wanted to be away from her… co-workers."

Then again, didn't she use her Yakuza connections to find his uncle Dojima in the first place? Maybe they were unfortunate casualties to this scenario, but there was no way to know for sure yet.

"Do you think she knew King Moron personally?" Yosuke suggested. "They were thrown in at the same time."

"Definitely not. He was an abrasive person to begin with, and she's… well, she'd react much like Satonaka would in her place."

An odd sense of pride and embarrassment filled Chie, feeling what she heard was a compliment. She thought back to how the older woman reacted to the news anchor unwittingly calling her "tiger" and giggled. "I so want to be like her when I grow up."

"Then maybe your guardian killed King Moron by accident?"

"That's also impossible. Fuji-nee is always careful about her strength in kendo, and doesn't go around hurting others. The worst she could do for revenge is a practical joke."

Yosuke snapped his fingers, annoyed that the theory was shot. "Then why was King Moron killed so quickly?"

"Maybe he got unlucky and was killed right after he was pushed in. We just have to make sure no one else dies until we can get them out."

Teddie blinked owlishly, his eyes as small as dots in alarm. "Wait, what?"

"Well, we found someone dead back in our world already. So that means there's two people still here." Yosuke explained.

Teddie looked at everyone else, who nodded in agreement. The bear held his head worriedly, as if feeling a migraine. "What are you talking about? No one's left here!"

"What are you talking about? We saw the corpse of our jackass teacher King Moron this morning, right after the rain last night!"

"That doesn't change the fact that you're wrong!"

"How the hell am I wrong!? Three people got in, one died and got out! What's so hard to understand?"

Teddie looked very bristled, and stared back at Yosuke. The teen towered over him, but at that moment, it was Teddie who looked to be the more dominant figure. "Let me put this in a way you can understand, Yosuke. Three people got in. No one got out yet. And before you ask; yes, this was before you guys showed up today!"

"Are you absolutely sure? I mean, you've told us before you've been having trouble smelling around here lately."

"Just because I can't pick up someone's scent perfectly doesn't mean I can't tell when this world changes! Three people are here! End of discussion!"

Yosuke gulped, backing away and waving his hands in defense. The bear could be pretty scary when he wanted to be. "O-Okay, if you say so, Ted…"

"But if that's true," Yukiko wondered aloud. "Then our teacher wasn't pushed inside? Then how did he die?"

Shirou, having seen the body himself, thought back to the signs. "He bled to death, most likely. Something, or someone, stabbed him enough times to stain his clothes. Then hanged him by the water tower to look like the other deaths."

"Why does that matter?" Chie argued. "Plenty of Shadows have teeth or blades that can work for puncture wounds. We fought a giant grass baby for crying out loud!"

The Momentary Child, a child-like Shadow as Chie had described that was seen wandering the Striptease the other day. During their break from rescuing Kanji, the team went back there for some training and teamwork. Compared to the Contrarian King, that fight was much more manageable due to their higher level of experience.

"It matters because it might be different from the other bodies. It would help us to know if Yamano or Konishi were found with similar wounds."

"No… they weren't." Yosuke's bitter words spoke of certainty. He'd paid extra close attention to how Saki died and any rumors of how they found her body. "This case is so confusing to the cops in the first place because there's no sign of how the victims died. Rumors came up that they were poisoned to death but couldn't figure out how or why."

"A Shadow killing them in this world could probably do that," Teddie explained sadly. "The body returns fine, but the psyche and soul are gone."

As the rest of the team mulled over the dark topic, Shirou thought over the details once more. "In any case, I think we can conclude that our late teacher didn't die in the TV world, but in our world."

"Yeah, but was it really our culprit? Or someone that got lucky to get revenge on King Moron?" Yosuke asked.

"I don't know yet, but I intend to find out. There are three people here right now, and Fuji-nee's likely one of them." He turned to their team scanner. "Rise, can you locate the new dungeon if you had just one person to work off of?"

"As long as they're in the same area, I think so," she answered, resummoning her Persona again. "I take it you want me to find your Fuji-nee?"

"What else do you need to know, though?" Yosuke argued. "From what I've seen and heard, she's basically an older, stronger, more comical Chie Satonaka. Heck, I bet she has the same low points."

Rise quickly pried the visor off her face, jubilant glee evident on her features. "Ooooh! Like what her Shadow was like? Tell me, tell me!"

"Don't you dare!" Chie roared with a red flush. Her anger hid away her embarrassment pretty well, but Shirou had a feeling she was equal parts shy and mad.

"Come on, it's for the investigation! What's a little secret gossip between friends?" Yosuke clearly meant it in teasing, but him looking between Yukiko and Shirou for confirmation could be taken more of judging her reaction regarding them.

Chie was now gritting her teeth and barely grounded out her threat. "Stop being an ass, Hanamura, or I'll bring up your painful secret!" That was enough of a reaction to elicit a loud gulp from him.

"Knock it off. Both of you," Shirou scolded sharply. They exchanged awkward glances before looking away, fortunately dropping it. It was ironic that they still couldn't admit their secrets to new team members. If the Investigation Team was going to keep working together, they'd need to iron out all their interpersonal issues.

But that would have to wait. He turned back to Rise, who reluctantly went back to scrying herself. "It's true that Fuji-nee shares similarities to Satonaka; upbeat, athletic, determined. She's usually more laidback and enjoys sleeping and eating whenever given the chance."

"Definitely Satonaka," Yosuke noted aloud. Chie glared at him as Yukiko stifled a giggle.

"She's also stubborn; once she sets her mind to it, she'd see to it that it goes her way. She's almost always late to the class she teaches and has a bit of an ego."

"Sounds more like Hanamura to me," Chie quipped back. Yosuke returned the glare and Yukiko chortled more.

"I'm getting something," Rise said, looking intently through Himiko's visor. "But it's still vague. I need a little more to zero-in."

"Like what?" Shirou felt he had a wealth of knowledge to provide for his guardian, but it would help to get the specifics first.

"Shadows are more drawn to the unseen emotions, remember?" Teddie offered. "The kind that they didn't want others to know about. Does your Fuji-nee have anything like that?"

Shirou frowned. Normally Fuji-nee was so vibrant and jovial and honest. He couldn't think of any time where she had some sort of slip of emotion. Except that one time. "I think deep down, she has an inferiority complex about herself. Worried that what she does is not enough. Doesn't like it if secrets are kept from her."

Himiko's head tilted ever so slightly to the right. "Go on," Rise urged.

"And despite her child-like demeanor, she's also shown times when she can be mature and reliable. But… no one ever seems to notice or care," he continued. In a way, he was just realizing all this himself. "She got mad whenever someone called her 'Tiger' instead of 'Taiga', and made a point to get revenge later, but it was hiding the fact that she was upset."

"Oh, Shirou-sensei…"

Following Teddie's sad comment, a somber silence fell over the group. Rise felt the compulsive urge to hug her heroic senpai, but she knew finding Fuji-nee would help him more. She felt she had a good feel of where to find their target now. Yosuke and Chie felt especially guilty getting wound up earlier with a fight. Yukiko's laughter was gone, and she found her gaze pinned to the floor.

Then she caught sight of something that piqued her interest, a smile slowly curling on her lips.

"I found her," Rise announced. "And the other two are just as close. I'm not sure if it's because they brought their own baggage into this world too, but it's much bigger than the other dungeons 'til now."

"Well, that's ominous," Yosuke said. "Maybe the culprit is one of the three and is hiding out here?"

"I wouldn't rule out that possibility, but we won't find out pondering things here." Shirou turned to address the team. "All right, let's… go?"

His planned speech died as he and everyone else stared at Yukiko. For some reason, she was now wearing a different pair of glasses over her eyes that looked more fitted from a joke box. The frames were glassy opaque and lined with circles that hid her brown eyes. Attached to the bridge was a thick gag nose with a thin black 'stache on either end. It was the most ridiculous thing Shirou had ever seen.

"Hehe, roger!" If Yukiko recognized it was a silly accessory too, she either didn't care or was having too much fun as she saluted, regardless of the stares she was receiving.

"Yukiko," Chie asked finally, sternly frowning at her best friend. "Where did you find those?"

"Teddie had a whole pile of them over there," she said, pointing to said stack of similar glasses. "They look funny!"

"Hehe, oh yeah," Teddie laughed sheepishly. "I uh, got bored waiting for you guys again, so I've been practicing making some new glasses designs for Kanji. I might have gone overboard."

"I'm surprised you didn't think to make glasses for yourself yet. Or have you?" Yosuke asked.

"Hmph! My eye holes are made of the same lenses as your glasses, you know! I have no reason to make myself a pair!" He muttered to himself softly, "especially when they would just fall off my face."

"Here Emiya-kun! You try a pair!"

"Huh?" Yukiko didn't bother waiting for a proper response by Shirou before stepping up close to him. With one hand she plucked the fog-filtering glasses off his face, and then pushed the gag glasses in another. He was suddenly left with a deliberating headache and difficulty to see, barely able to register the team around them. But he did see and notice the stifling laughter now. He must look ridiculous.

Yukiko pointed and laughed right away. "Your face, haha, your face! Oh-ho Emiya-kuuuun, you look so ridiculous, pwahahahaha!"

"Wow, Yuki-chan's really losing it. Not that *snrk* I blame her." Rise barely kept it together looking over Shirou. Their normally serious, stoic leader, wearing such silly eyewear.

And predictably, he was annoyed. "Why am I even wearing these?"

"W-Well, think of them as… back-up glasses!"

"Oh, I'm afraid those won't work in this world," Teddie shook his head. "They don't have the same filter lenses as the ones I made for you guys."

Yukiko actually sounded upset to learn about this between giggles. "Teehee. Aww, too bad."

"More like a blessing. I can't imagine walking around Inaba with these things, much less in a dungeon." Shirou argued. His hand reached to the gag nose covering his real one. "I mean, what's this nose piece for, any-?"

'Squeak!'

A loud honky squeak filled the studio space, startling everyone into silence. Shirou hesitantly clenched his fingers over the nose piece again and felt some sort of air pressure inside. Said pressure let out a high-pitched sound befitting a pet's squeaky toy. Or even an accordion letting the noise out too long.

"BWAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! *snort* AHAHAHAHA!" Yukiko laughed so hard she fell over on her back, kicking and rolling on her aching sides. Everyone else joined in her chorus, but they were nowhere near as loud or animated.

At some point during the laughter, Tama decided to stop hanging from the TV stand and pluck a pair of gag glasses for herself. The prospect of a squeaky toy clearly excited her.

Shirou's eyebrow twitched, but for all he knew, no one could see it through the thick lenses. He didn't know if his Personas were laughing at his expense. Slowly, he removed the gag glasses, taking care not to crush them in a fit of rage. They didn't have time for this.

"Are you all quite done?" he asked evenly. The others had the decency to look a little embarrassed of their reactions. Except Yukiko, it was taking her a little longer to calm down.

Finally, she sat up to look at him, pulling out her own gag glasses. "That depends," she asked back. "Are you feeling better?"

Shirou blinked. "Huh?"

"I know it's important we have to rescue your guardian and the other victims, but you can't do that if you're feeling sorry for yourself. I'm sure she wouldn't want to see you having any doubt in yourself."

Yukiko clearly spoke from personal experience, in relation to her own Shadow. It's not that he didn't appreciate the gesture, but the timing was suspect.

Still, Shirou smiled and reached over to pull his classmate up. Having people like her, like this team, watch out for his well being was somewhat liberating. Fuji-nee would be happy meeting them for the first time. That would make all this Inaba case nonsense worth it. "Thanks, Amagi."


Road to Taiga

The Investigation Team could understand with each trek walking around why Teddie didn't like his world getting "cluttered". Each place of a victim's reality was haphazardly placed down without regard to the original spot, a style that would contrast with the others. While some places looked accurate to reality like the shopping district, others were grandiose in the fantasy like the castle or strip joint. The pathways to each new place were simple at first, as if entering a new movie set in a studio (thus enforcing the idea that this is possibly some big elaborate filming plot by the culprit). They felt natural at first, gradually giving away to a new area without it feeling entirely out of place. A gate and some tiles leading to the castle, a dark cave for the strip tease, things like that.

But this new place they were going to, there was a very clear divide how different it was from all the others. A literal line at that, where the ground went from smooth and flat to rough and blocky. Pixelated, even. The color of the road past that point grew darker, less vibrant. The few trees they saw were thick and cartoonishly blocky, but each one further down had fewer green leaves, more branches. The further down the path they went, the more it was like entering a graveyard, and only Yukiko found that prospect exciting.

They finally reached their destination at a big thick (and pixelated) gate barring entrance to a tall Romanian castle, but with a horror vibe to it. Tall towers climbing to the sky, with small sets of towers suspended and branched out. Dim yellow lights in small windows at each bridge and tower room. Steep cliffs that carved out any land or entry around it besides the single, long bridge beyond the gate.

Even the sky of waves resembled more of an old 8-bit game with how they rather blinked into position every second rather than flowed. The waves converged on a single point, blending in like a sun or black hole (or was it a red hole given how the color changed?). There was also one addition to the sky that was meant for the area: a white glowing half circle with a sliver of black waning from the left side.

Finally, just at the top of the gate was a sign in red letters (that gave the distinct scent of blood), printed in English letters for all to see:

Moon Voidania

Chie forced a laugh, pointing to the sky. "G-Guess you have a moon in your world after all, Teddie."

"The castle or the space ball?"

Ignoring them, Yosuke tried to push, then pull, the gate open. It didn't so much as budge either way. "Well, aside from the world looking like some sort of old school horror video game, the only creepy thing about this place is how the entrance is locked."

"Has that ever happened before?" Rise asked.

"Technically it happened last time with those two Guys guarding the bathhouse," Shirou commented. "But that was it."

"Teddie once said that the Shadows attack us because they have a feeling we're snooping around where we shouldn't be," Yosuke said. "Maybe they're upping the security every time to make sure we don't get in?"

"Is that really the case?" Yukiko wondered. "I can understand Kanji-kun at least, but if what Emiya-kun said about his guardian is true, would she feel this guarded about her true feelings?"

"If it was just Fuji-nee, no," Shirou said. Her strength and positivity always shone even when she was downtrodden. "But with two other victims? Or worse, the mastermind himself in the furthest level, then this closed entry makes sense."

"So what do we do now?" Chie asked. "Bust the door open?"

Before Shirou could even begin to ponder that idea, his senses picked up a faint sound beyond the gate. Like the galloping of a startled quadruped… acting bipedal? It was strange, and yet it was somehow familiar.

Then he heard it. "-gottagetouttaheregottagetouttaheregottagetouttaheregottagetouttahere-!"

"My word, is that-?!"

He didn't need Cu Sith's confirmation on the matter. But he did need to move. "Guys? We should back away from the gate. Now."

The sense of urgency wasn't lost on them. Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko still stared at him in confusion as he moved towards the gate wall. Teddie picked up the scent right away, and Rise summoned Himiko for a better view. They both blanched at what they saw. ""Oh whoopie cushions/crapbaskets!"" They cried at once, over each other.

"-gottagetouttaheregottagetouttahereGOTTAGETOUTTAHEREGOTTAGETOUTTAHEEEEEEEEEEEERRRE!"

By now everyone had barreled out of the way of the blocky gate, some running, some tripping, and at least one dive-jumping forward. Not a moment later, the barreling force heading towards them slammed into the gate like a bullet train and snapped them both away in two. An explosion went off, and all that was left when the dust settled was a young woman in slightly tattered clothes, sprawled on the floor and eyes dizzy from running.

She was just barely conscious enough to congratulate herself. "I made iiiiit~. Hooraaaaay."

"Fuji-nee!" Shirou ran to her side right away. He turned her around and set her upright on his lap, shaking her lightly to stir her. "Fuji-nee, are you okay? Fuji-nee?"

"So that's his guardian, huh?" Yosuke wondered aloud. He and the others crowded closely to him, but kept their space. "I'm kinda surprised she managed to get out all on her own."

"Uh, guys?"

"Does this count as saving her, though?" Yukiko asked, then pouted. "We didn't even get to see the inside of the castle."

Rise tried again to get their attention. "Guuuuuys…"

"Well, look on the bright side," Chie said, pointing to the gate without looking back. "She opened the way for us! I'm sure after she's all rested, and if we get Kanji-kun on board, we'll be ready to-"

"Guys, seriously! Shadow at your six!"

That snapped them out of their stupor, and they turned back around to see a Shadow sprinting towards them. It resembled a warthog, tusks pointed forward as it galloped towards them with small front legs. Grafted to the back of the shadow was a motorcycle back wheel and engine, gunning and reverberating with each step it made and made somewhat deadly (if gothic metal) with a series of spikes grafted off the side. A black rider's helmet covered the hog's face, capped with a Noh Mask on top representing the roman mark of Chariot.

"I've heard of Wild Hogs, but this is ridiculous!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Funny thing. That's what that Shadow's called."

The hog shadow squealed as it reeled back mid-charge before glowing red, and it sped at the team faster at its impromptu wheelie. Sparks flared up brightly and it was easy to hear the loud sound of tires burning rubber on the bridge. Whatever it was going to do, it was going to hit them hard and fast.

"Let's roast this porker!" Chie roared, summoning Tomoe right away. Jiraiya and Konohana Sakuya appeared just as quickly, and they peppered it with their elemental attacks given the distance between them was still vast.

Ice, wind, fire. Nothing stopped it, and they didn't seem to hurt it either. Again the pig shadow oinked aloud, only second to the roar of its engine, which started to steam up. Maybe the fire did do something after all?

"Oh no. Guys, you need to dodge!" Rise warned urgently. "It's gonna blow!"

"But Emiya-kun is in its line of fire!" Chie argued. And his guardian too was in danger, but that didn't need to be said.

"I got this!" Shirou didn't try to carry or move Taiga away, but he didn't need to so long as he had a Persona. "Izanagi!"

His first Persona shot out like a bullet, deciding for the direct approach instead of magic. As the crossed paths, Izanagi swung his naginata with all the force he could muster, a true Power Slash that hacked flesh and metal alike. The Wild Hog's screams were now of pain, showing that the attack was effective.

But it wasn't enough to kill it! Worse, the Shadow was just upon them, ready to detonate! Maybe if he could recall Izanagi back, he'd have enough time to strike again, or at least buffer the explosion to save the others?

No. The others wouldn't want that. Fuji-nee wouldn't want that. If he couldn't think of a way to get them all out, himself included, what kind of hero would he be?

Before he realized, his guardian shifted in his arms, and a dim blue light caught his peripheral vision. "Kaihime!"

A second figure barreled towards the Wild Hog, a streak of yellow and green. This Persona too struck the Shadow with a quick-draw horizontal slash. However, the strength, speed, and even elegance of the cut was the sign of a true swordsman, managing to bisect the Shadow so clean that it severed its target into two. And the two halves of the Wild Hog fell harmlessly over the bridge edge, disintegrating rather than exploding, leaving behind only a pathetic, drowned out "Sweeeee…"

Everyone was struck dumb in awe. They slowly looked up from the non-existent Shadow remains to the new Persona. A porcelain white-skinned woman that seemed to glow like a ghost, wearing a yellow furisode kimono with red petal designs. A green sash with yellow stripes fastened the kimono around the waist, also held together by a red knotted string. From the waist down, the kimono was cut into thin-like ribbons resembling a broken skirt, giving ample freedom of movement, and revealed matching black greaves guarding her shins. In her left arm, the kimono sleeve was completely unblemished, cradling a long black sword sheath in her demure hand. But from her right arm, the sleeve was torn completely off, revealing her supple shoulder and a black vambrace over her hand, which was holding her weapon. A long katana, black and red hilt, sun-shaped guard, and a distinctly orange-and-black striped tail at the end. The most striking feature was her wavy fire-red hair, and a tiger-painted mask covering her face.

After a few more seconds, the Princess Persona cleaned the edge of her blade by her sheath, and then slid in inside before vanishing. Now everyone turned to where they saw the Persona appear from. Taiga Fujimura had her hand clenched out in front of her, eyes closed in intense focus.

No one knew what to say. They were all numb in thought. Thinking how insane that was. How impossibly COOL that was, and how it seemed to break so many rules they had learned thus far about Personas and Shadows. Even Shirou didn't know what to say, except tentatively say her name again. "F-Fuji…nee?"

"Hehe…" Taiga chuckled, turning to give him a smile. "Finally. I can say I've saved you… for once…"

Her body slumped in his arms, and Shirou feared for the worst. "Fuji-nee!"

"It's okay, senpai!" Rise told him as Yukiko knelt to his side with her Persona. "She's just unconscious! I'm not sure how but she must have awakened her Persona on her own!"

"Yeah. I mean, it always left us winded whenever we accepted ourselves," Yosuke consoled him, a firm hand over his shoulder. "Plus, she was running out of this dungeon all ragged. It's no wonder she's exhausted."

Konohana Sakuya's light of Diarama enveloped the sleeping woman, cleaning away the dirt and grime. "And she doesn't seem to have any serious wounds either. No blood, no scratches… she'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

"Thank goodness," Shirou sighed in relief. He couldn't imagine losing her too after Kiritsugu. Or anyone really… is this how they felt the other day? Brushing those thoughts aside for now, he shifted his hold on her to a bridal carry before standing off the ground. "Let's go back."

"Now?" Teddie cried, dismayed. "You're going back now?! But we just got here!"

"We only came here to help Fujimura-san, remember?" Yosuke told him. "Now that she's here, there's no reason to go in."

The bear looked especially frustrated, almost like he wanted to argue his case more. But taking one look at Shirou, and Taiga in his arms, deflated the bear. "All right…"

It was sometimes easy to forget with all the murder cases and juggling through school and work that there was a reason to all of this. A promise they made to help save the bear's fragile world. This could very well be the stronghold of the culprit, the source of everything wrong in both their homes… and they weren't going in yet.

"I'm sorry, Teddie," Shirou consoled. "I know how much this means to you. And once we get Fuji-nee back up on her feet, and see about recruiting Kanji, then we'll be ready to finish this."

"You mean it?"

"I more than mean it; I promise."

Teddie nodded, comforted by the reassurance. But something was still bothering him, leaving him with conflicted emotions. I should probably find or fuse a Star Persona soon.


Junes Electronics Dept.

The rest of the walk back was quick and quiet; the new dungeon gave distinct "final boss" vibes as Yosuke would comment on, and it was unanimously agreed to prepare more for the upcoming battle.

That said… there are times when people lower their guard, expect things to just work out as they normally do. Nothing had gone wrong before, so why assume things would spiral out of control now?

Except that they had as early as before dawn, or last night. A new victim was found killed, and three people were thrown inside the TV. Two were still inside now, and it was likely that one of them was the culprit responsible.

It still came to a surprise for Shirou, the first to exit the TV, when he saw Kanji and Naoto turn over to him from looking at another TV on display. They looked surprised to see him there, wondering how he suddenly appeared.

Naoto's eyes narrowed as he noticed Fujimura in his arms. "Emiya-san, isn't that one of the missing suspects?"

Shirou nearly panicked, but he reigned in his nerves to try and salvage this. "I can expla-AAACK!"

The giant TV portal opened again with a pool of white light, with the body of Yosuke Hanamura colliding into his. They collapsed in a heap with the Junes part-timer groaning as he pushed himself off. "Dammit, Shirou. I thought we agreed to space apart whenever we go through the TV!"

"What did Hanamura-kun say?" Yukiko's voice echoed from beyond the screen.

"I think he said, 'we can all go through, we're clear'." Chie guessed. The screen glowed white again.

Shirou and Yosuke's eyes widened with alarm for different, but equally concerning reasons. They leaned up to quickly voice their concerns. "Girls, wait, not-!" "Nononono-!"

They fell on deaf ears as Chie collapsed on them stomach-first, forcing the two back down to the floor. Yukiko appeared next, landing hip-first to Chie's backside. Then Rise, clonking heads with the inn-heiress and collapsing further on the pile of investigators. Finally, Tama popped out, staying long enough to bounce off the former idol's skirt before dashing through the store and slipping through the crowd. Had no one saw the fox beforehand, they wouldn't have noticed a thing.

Slowly but surely, the other members realized that an uncomfortable position wasn't their only problem at the moment. Naoto's face stared at them with wide-eyed, slack-jawed shock. Whatever the young detective expected, it wasn't such blatant disregard for the natural laws of order.

No one could think of anything to say. Except for Kanji, who suddenly looked very smug and vindicated towards his small ward. "I told you they were all inside the TV!"


A/N: Feels good to finally get to this point: the reveal of Taiga's Persona! And of course, this new place overtakes the original Void Quest scenario which I hope goes well in the end. Here's to the last chapter of a crappy year with nothing but a lot of sickness and bad vibes. Hope the next one will be better. See you then.

-Vegeta the 3rd