#6: To Love, or Not to Love
Persona series © ATLUS
Digimon Adventure © Toei Animation
4/17 Sunday
Daytime
Teddie had lead them to the new area that appeared when Yukiko disappeared. The area was a familiar castle, with the same red and black sky.
"Didn't we see this place on the Midnight Channel last night?" Sora said.
"Seems like it." Tai said.
"Hey Teddie, is Yukiko in there for real?" Yosuke said.
"There's no doubt about it." Teddie said. "My snout has even locked onto her scent!"
"You know, now that I think about it, shouldn't there be other people in this weird world?" Tai said, thinking to himself. "I mean, there has to be someone working that camera for that weird Midnight Channel program."
"Program?" Teddie spoke up. "I don't get it."
"Huh? You don't know what a program is?" Matt said.
"Hey, welcome to my world." Tai said.
"Not that type of program."
"You don't know what a TV show is?" Kari asked Teddie, speaking in simpler words.
"I still don't know what that means." Teddie said. "Maybe people in your world can see things in this world. And I told you from before, there isn't supposed to be anybody else in this place. Only me and shadows. There's no camera stuff going on. This world has been like this from the beginning."
"The beginning?" Tai said. "THAT'S what we don't get. When was this world even made?"
"Do you think this place has something to do with the Digital World?" Sora said.
"Agh, this is too confusing."
"Why don't we focus on the task at hand?" Yu said. "We'll try to solve this later."
"Right! Yukiko needs our help right now, so we can't dwaddle on this." Chie said.
"Oh, can I ask one more question?" Teddie said.
"What's that?" Yosuke said.
"Did this Yukiko person do anything in this 'Program?'"
"Well, she was saying all sorts of weird stuff, like 'score myself a hot stud.'" Chie said.
"Score myself a hot stud?"
"Yeah, I meant to ask that." Kari said. "What does that mean? And what's a 'harem'?"
"Hey, hey, hey, I told you. Don't ask about that." Yosuke groaned while holding his head.
"...I knew I shouldn't have asked that..."
Yosuke then leaned over to Yu, while Chie looks towards the castle. "Ugh, I swear, these kids better not see anything revealing…" Yosuke whispered to Yu.
"I'm sure they'll be fine." Yu said.
"Yeah, but Yukiko said something about her lacy unmentionables. What if–"
"Yukiko…" Chie said, looking towards the castle. "I can feel her presence…Yukiko…" Chie, without warning, then started running into the castle.
"Chie!" Sora exclaimed, running after her.
"Wait, guys, hold on!" Yosuke yelled. "Dammit!" They all then started running after them, leaving Teddie behind.
"GYAH! Don't leave my beary-behind behind!" Teddie yelled, as he frantically started after them. "You didn't even tell me what scoring a hot stud means!"
Chie was running through the red-colored hallways, trying to get to Yukiko, with Sora behind her.
(Yukiko…Where are you…?) Chie thought in her head, as she ran.
(Chie doesn't even hear me.) Sora thought in her head. (Geez, it's so hard to see here. I can barely see Chie. Maybe I should have asked Teddie for those glasses…No, I shouldn't. I'll lose Chie if I turn back now. Just gotta keep following her…)
Because they don't have glasses, they can't see through the fog very well. They couldn't even see the shadows that were appearing behind them that were blocking the Persona users. These shadows look like two people in brown robes, with a rod impaling their heads, body and legs.
"They don't even see them." Yosuke said.
"They're blind without their own pair of glasses." Matt said.
"What do you say?" Yu said.
"Let's go!" Tai exclaimed.
The Persona users all summoned their cards, as the blue light encompasses them all.
"PERSONA!" Tai and Yu yelled as they crushed their cards, summoning Izanagi and Momotaro to their side.
"Bring it on!" Yosuke exclaimed. "PERSONA!" He then jumped and punched his card when it was just over his head. He then summoned his Persona to his side.
"You won't stop me!" Matt exclaimed. "PERSONA!" He then punched the card when it was at eye level, and he summoned Shippeitaro to his side.
"Alright!" Kari cheered. "PERSONA!" She pressed the card against her chest and summoned Tennyo to her side.
First, Izanagi flew forward and sliced the shadows in half. Momotaro comes forward, and throws out a fire attack, finishing this set of shadows, but only barely.
"Alright!" Teddie exclaimed. "These shadows are weak to Fire attacks!"
"Okay, got it!" Tai responded. "Do it some more, Momotaro!"
Momotaro then fired out more fire attacks and obliterated another set of shadows. One more set was coming for them, and they knocked them back to their controllers. Yu and Tai at the same time attacks, and destroyed those shadows.
"Nicely done!" Teddie exclaimed. "But boy, you got lucky there. Those guys seem resistant to physical attacks."
"Thanks for the heads up." Yu said.
"Jiraiya!" Yosuke called out to his Persona. Jiraiya responded by attacking the legs of the shadows, as they were floating towards Yosuke, and finished them off with a swift hit on the back. "Ha!" Jiraiya then sent out a tornado attack that sucked up the shadows into there, however, it didn't do a thing to them. "Huh? What the…?"
"Yosuke, you've got a lot to learn." Teddie said.
"Man, all I get is crap from you!"
"Don't you get it? These guys can block wind attacks!"
"Well, how am I supposed to know that? It's trial and error when facing these guys!"
"I got them!" Kari exclaimed. "Tennyo!" Tennyo brought her hand forward, and sent out an electric attack, however, just like with Jiraiya, it didn't do a thing to them. "Huh!? They can block Zio too!?"
"Okay, so blast fire attacks only." Tai said. "I'm your man! Momotaro!" Momotaro then fired out more Agi attacks and destroyed more shadows. "So if fire attacks can beat them, then Agumon can help out! Hey, Koromon! Time to-" He then checks around them, and noticed that their Digimon were missing again. "C'mon! Not again!"
"Did they go ahead without us too?" Kari said.
"Ngh, let's go find them after we're done here."
"Uh, guys! We got another one here!" Yosuke shouted as he pointed to a group of three. These shadows look like crosses, with a white mask in the middle, with a balance in the middle. It was colored red on one side while it was colored blue on the other.
"These guys look tough." Teddie said.
"We should attack them all at once." Yu said.
"Gotcha." Yosuke said. "Ready?"
"Okay, let's all attack!"
Their Personas all attacked the shadows with their elemental attacks, however, this proved to be a big mistake. The shadows didn't seem fazed by the barrage at all, and to add to that, they sent all the attacks right back to the Personas! Right as the Personas got hit, the Persona users all felt that attack.
"GYAH! What the heck!?" Tai exclaimed.
"Oh no! All of your elemental attacks can be reflected by these shadows!" Teddie yelled.
"I see that, but why did it feel like that attack hit us?"
"Our Personas may be linked to us." Yu said. "I think everything that happens to them happens to us."
"What?"
"It makes sense when we're using much of our attacks too much. We all get tired."
"It kinda does make sense...I guess..." Matt said.
"Look out! Here they come!" Kari yelled.
The shadows were rushing towards them all. One was headed for Kari, in which she dodged the attack, and Tennyo fired her bow at them.
"Gah, we're wasting our time!" Tai said. "Let's go! We need to catch up to those girls!"
Everyone then started running away from the shadows. Their onslaught seems never-ending, and they all decided to deal with them later. The Persona-less girls were their priority.
(Chie…Where did you go?) Sora thought in her head, as it seems that she lost Chie. The fog seems to be getting worse the more she runs, though it does seem like the hallways aren't branching. She seems to be going the right and only way. As she was running, the fog starts going away a little bit. For a second, she starts worrying, because she knows if the fog clears up, she's in mortal danger of the shadows, considering they would start going berserk. She was able to see a door come up to her, and she stopped right in front of it, before she crashed into it. She then opens the door and sees that the room was filled with fog inside. "Chie! Are you in there?" She then starts walking into the room, trying to look for Chie and/or Yukiko.
She was walking for a few minutes. It seemed as if she was lost. She tried going back to the direction she walked, but only found more fog. No one was answering her. It was just the hollow groans of the room she was in.
"D-Did I get myself lost? Where am I?"
Before she knew it, she was standing in some sort of street. Everything was greyed out in different shades of grey. It looked like she was in a residential district in Inaba, with no one around though.
"Where am I now?"
"Her daughter looks nice." A voice said.
"Huh? Who said that?"
"Yeah, she looks nice, but trust me, I hear she isn't." Another one said.
"Is this like what happened to Saki?"
"She's that new transfer student, right?"
"Yeah. They're the Takenouchis."
"Huh? They're talking about me?"
"I heard that Toshiko is being harassed by her own daughter."
"What!?"
"The nerve of that girl. Her mother gives her much love, and she never returns it?"
"I love my mother! What are you talking about!?"
"She looks at love as if it's a joke. And if she does show love, my guess is that she uses that to her advantage."
(O-Okay Sora. This is what happened to Yosuke. These must be truths…Just accept it, just accept it…) More voices start entering the area. They start to overwhelm the girl. (I-I can't…I can't do it! I just can't accept this is true! I-I love my own mother. No way do I think this way! These are lies! I-I mean, I didn't really love her all that much back then, but…)
"Why can't that girl stop kicking that ball, and start to love her own mother? I'm sure her father would have liked that."
"Where is her father anyway?"
"I heard Haruhiko is working at Kyoto University, and can't come home most of the time."
"It must be a pain to see his wife and daughter not loving each other."
"S-Stop it! That's enough!"
"Oh, suck it up." A voice said, from behind Sora. "You hate love, and only use it for your own good."
Sora looks behind her and sees someone she probably expected to show her face sooner or later. As she looked, it seemed as of the street scenery has just disappeared, and the color reappeared.
"You…" Sora said. "Y-You're…"
"That's right. I'm you. Your own shadow!"
"Why are you torturing me like this?"
"Torture? All I'm doing is show you what the people of this town thinks of you."
"No! That's wrong! We only just moved here! Nobody would know about us that quick!"
"But that's something you know people would think if they saw the real you."
"But…"
"If people saw the real you, they would know you as a little heartless brat!"
"W-What are you talking about!? I…" Sora then grabbed and shook her head. "No…No, no, no, I'm not falling for it! Just accept it, Sora…Just accept it…"
"You can't accept it. You're too weak to accept the truth that you are some heartless brat."
"W-What? Heartless? N-No, I love my friends and my family, as they love me!"
"That's true. They do love you. It makes you feel good. But can you return the affection?"
"I-I can. I have the Crest of Love, after all!"
"So what?"
"Huh?"
"That doesn't mean anything. It's just a stupid trinket, what else?"
"Hey, if I didn't activate my crest, Biyomon would have been destroyed by Myotismon back in the Digital World!"
"Guess so. You even told her how much you love her. Oh, that just touches my heart. But really, how do you know if it was a fluke? How do you know those feelings were genuine? How do you know your feelings now have been changed from before you went into the Digital World?"
"N-No, I, I'm getting along a lot better with my mom, and…"
"Are you? Or do you think something is holding you back?"
"What?"
"Why, your mother seems to still be on a certain edge with you for some reason. Or maybe…it's because you don't like the concept of love. You hate it! You don't appreciate it at all!"
"I hate it!? I…No I don't! Y-You're lying!"
"Why so tense? If I'm lying, why are my lies getting to you like this?"
"I…I…"
"Sora!" Tai, Kari, and Matt all ran into the area and sees Sora and her shadow.
"Wait, is that, her shadow?" Kari said.
"No, don't come any closer!" Sora exclaimed, having a nervous breakdown from what it seems. "Don't come near me!"
"Sora!" Tai exclaimed. "You're not safe!" They all tried to run towards her, however, shadows appeared from the ground. They were blocking their path and were surrounding Sora.
"Dang it!" Matt exclaimed as the three of them all had their backs to each other.
"There's so many of them!" Kari exclaimed.
"Now that your friends are here, I'll keep going." Sora's Shadow said. "Above being able to use them for your own selfish needs, you hate being the big sister of the group, and you hate that you have to babysit the Digidestined! You only use love as a tool, and nothing else!"
"Stop It!" Sora yelled. "Don't say anything else!"
"Huh? What's she saying?" Kari said.
"That doesn't matter!" Tai said. "Sora, don't fall for it! You need to be strong!"
"N-No!" Sora yelled. "They're all lies!"
"Hahahahaha! You're pathetic! You haven't changed at all from when you started your adventure in the Digital World!" Shadow Sora exclaimed. Sora was trying to keep her posture, but the stress of all this was making her falter. "'Oh, but my crest of Love activates whenever I actually do feel love!' Yeah, of course, it does, when you feel it. But not when you express it. You see? You're too weak and worthless to grasp the true concept of love. I know all of this about you, because I am you!"
"That's, I…No! You're wrong!" Sora snapped. "None of that is true! Shut up! Just shut up!"
"Sora, don't say it!" Tai yelled.
"That's not what I feel! She's not me!"
*I'LL FACE MYSELF (BATTLE)*
The shadow laughs, as the accursed words have been spoken, and she was transforming. She turned into a humanoid bird creature, with red feathers, with a black tint on the back of the wings. There were crimson machinery parts on her wings, and a bandana with an inverted symbol of the Crest of Love. Also the talons seem to have chains on them, seemingly holding her legs back.
"I am a shadow of the true inner self!" The Shadow exclaimed.
"Sora!" Matt yelled as he sent out Shippeitaro to slash at the shadows. He did it with ease, and the Shadows were destroyed. Just as Shadow Sora was about to attack Sora, Matt dove in, and got Sora out of the way, just in time.
"Don't get in my way!" Shadow Sora exclaimed. Out of her wings, she shot feathers towards the Persona users. That is until Momotaro got in the way, and defended them. "So, you want to continue to be a pain, huh? Fine then! I guess I'll have to kill you!" She then sent out fire attacks towards the group, however, Izanagi intervened.
"Got here just in time!" Tai said, as he sees Yu next to him, controlling Izanagi.
"Thanks, but, we got another one to deal with." Yu said.
"Another one?"
"Get back here, so I can kill you!" A voice yelled. On the other side of the room, which apparently was a giant ballroom, Jiraiya was fending off against another shadow that has a yellow outfit on, as well as a hood covering the face that looks similar to an executioner's hood. She also looked like she was sitting on something unusual. Teddie was also there, freaking out as usual.
"Whose shadow is that?" Tai said.
"It's Chie's." Yu said. "We'll have to fend both of them off at the same time."
"Gotcha."
Tai and Yu then went back to concentrating on their respective battles. The loose feathers on Shadow Sora turned into spikes, in which she shot them out towards Matt, who's still with Sora.
"Matt, look out!" Kari yelled. Tennyo sent out a lightning attack, and that toppled Shadow Sora onto the ground, as Matt and Sora got out of the way quickly.
"That did something!" Tai exclaimed. "Momotaro, come on!" Tai then sent out Momotaro to shoot out a fire attack at Shadow Sora. However, it looked like it didn't do anything.
"Fire attacks aren't working on her!" Teddie exclaimed.
The Shadow then got up and got ready to attack.
"Look out! Here she comes!" Tai exclaimed. Shadow Sora then blasted fire from her wings, and that propelled her forward to the group. She was rocketing towards them. She was about to ram into them all, until Shippeitaro stepped in, and was protecting them all from the attack. He was trying to push the shadow back, as Matt was feeling the struggle Shippeitaro is feeling. Unfortunately, the shadow was stronger and slammed Shippeitaro away. When Shippeitaro was slammed away, Matt felt the impact of that, and he was slammed away as well.
"Matt!" Tai yelled.
"L-Leave them alone!" Sora yelled. "Stop it!"
"You're not in charge of me." Her shadow said.
"Just stop! Leave my friends alone!"
"Why? So you can manipulate them more?"
"I don't manipulate my friends!"
"Heh, so you need more? Well, I know why you don't like the concept of Love. It's because you can't show any love back. That stupid crest does activate whenever you start showing off your affections, but they aren't legitimate. You need the love of your friends to be able to get stronger. You need them…to use them, like your own little tools in order to be strong. If not for them, you can't do anything on your own. You'd be worthless! That's why I can't lose them."
"That's not…that…"
"Don't let her get to you, Sora." Matt said, struggling to get up. "You need to be strong." Unfortunately, one of the feathers on the shadow extended to the length of a ribbon, and it wrapped around Matt's neck, tightly.
"Matt!" Sora yelled.
"Oh no, not again!" Kari yelled. "Tennyo!"
Tennyo rushes forward and tries Zio once again. However, Shadow Sora was guarding at that time and didn't topple as a result of the attack. She then retaliated and clawed Tennyo's face, in which the poor girl felt the impact of the attack on her face. Taking this opportunity, the machinery parts on the wings fired, and sent them both hurtling back.
"Kari! No!" Tai exclaimed. "Yu! Yosuke! We need some help over here!"
"We need some serious help as well!" Yosuke yelled, at the other end of the room. They were also having problems with Chie's shadow.
"Ngh! Guess we're on our own…Don't worry, guys! I'm coming!"
"Silence!" Shadow Sora sent out an attack towards Tai, however, he dodged it. "These are my true colors, Taichi! Do you like me? Or do you hate me?"
"Tai doesn't hate me! He wouldn't!" Sora exclaimed.
"Sora, don't let her trick you!" Tai yelled.
"I'm not tricking her." Shadow Sora said. "This is how I truly feel!"
Shadow Sora then sent out a flame attack that seemed to engulf everything. The flames were surrounding Sora.
*ENDS*
She thought after that she was done for sure, but she looked around. Nothing but flames are everywhere.
I'm only in this for the support…I don't really need anyone…Not even my mother…
A voice that sounds like Sora's echoes.
Tai always acts like he's the king of the world. There's no way he is. He's only with me for my power…
"Is…this…?" Sora said, frightened.
"Yes, these are voices that are suppressed within your heart. This is how you truly feel…" Shadow Sora's voice said.
Without them, I would be a complete weakling. I wouldn't have anything else to power me up…
If it weren't for Tai, I couldn't do anything…
I wouldn't be able to manipulate anyone if it weren't for Tai, Matt, Izzy, Joe, Mimi, T.K., and Kari…
"No! NO! T-This can't be true! No!"
The voices started getting louder, sprouting more and more facts, that are starting to get to Sora. The flames started getting closer to her and were going to engulf and incinerate her. It was getting hot, and she couldn't mentally take this anymore. Eventually, she started giving in, and the flames were coming even faster now.
"This is…how I truly feel…?" Sora mumbled as the flame was about to get to her. "Oh no…"
"So what!?" Tai's voice exclaimed, getting Sora's attention.
"Huh?"
"Who cares that you can't activate your crest?"
"We're still our friend!" Kari shouted. "If you need our help, we'll always be there for you!"
"Those suppressed feelings about us and all that; I had those same feelings locked up in me too." Matt said. "Everyone has those kinds of thoughts in their head. It's a part of us."
"And you know you have a friend who helped you out with this." Tai said. "You remember, right?"
Right when Tai said that, Sora thinks of Biyomon immediately. She thinks about what she would do in this situation. She would protect Sora with all her life, and she would encourage Sora to get out of this rut because she can feel what it's like to Love someone.
She remembers when they were facing against Myotismon, and Birdramon was heavily outmatched, and when it seemed all was lost for her friend, Sora shouted that she loves her, and that made her gain the power to super digivolve into the ultimate level.
The crest of Love activating was proof enough that she can feel love, but not for the reason of manipulating. She has it because she genuinely can feel what it's like to be loved. Her confused feelings and stress had gotten in the way of all this. And all those confusing feelings and stress was the manifestation of her shadow. The shadow that was right in front of her.
"…You're right…I may not be so strong with Love, but, even still…when we're together, we'll all be able to help each other out through the toughest challenges…" Sora closed her eyes, and the flames all around her started going away, bringing her back to everyone else.
*DETERMINATION*
"Listen, I know that you may be a dark side of me. You're the pathetic part of me, and also something that I hated and ignored for a long time. But, that's how it is, huh? I can't run from it forever…Those feelings, I know for a fact that they are mine."
"That's, it..." Matt said, encouraging her some more.
Shadow Sora started getting glitch in her appearance, and she shrieked in pain.
"Are you serious!? You're really going to accept all that!? You're weak! You're too weak!" Shadow Sora blasted another fire attack towards Sora, but Momotaro jumped into the attack and took the fire straight in his chest. He was hurled back, along with Tai, who felt that attack burning in his chest.
"Tai!" Sora yelled.
"Okay! That tears it!" Matt exclaimed, trying to get out of Shadow Sora's grip. Though the Shadow tightened her grip on his neck and was threatening to strangle him to death.
"Matt! No!"
"Agh…T-Tennyo…" Kari weakly called out, as she tries to get up to get Matt out of the shadow's grip, but Tennyo was struggling to get up as well.
"Ngh…Matt…" Tai groaned as he got up. He sees that his little sister was lying on the ground injured, and his two best friends were about to be killed. He then sees Yu and the others on the other side of the room. They were in deep trouble as well, as they were pretty much in the same predicament. Tai doesn't know what to do here. He was afraid they were all going to lose. Not when they got this far…
*ENDS*
"The time has come for your powers to awaken…" A voice rang in Tai's mind. It was a familiar voice; one he heard from, recently.
After literally blinking, Tai realized that he was in a moving limousine. After processing this a bit, he realized he was sitting in the Velvet Room again, with Igor and Margaret in front of him.
"Igor? Margaret?" Tai said. "Geez, how do you keep getting me back into this freaky limo?"
"Your powers are starting to awaken." Margaret said.
"My powers?"
"You are the leader of the 8 Digidestined, meaning that your powers of being a Digidestined Persona user are starting to awaken." Igor said.
"You have the power to call upon your partner's help as you please." Margaret said. "Have you noticed?"
The card that Tai smashes whenever he summons his Persona floats down in front of his eyes.
"Your tarot card has your symbol of Courage on it. Your Persona has been infused by the power of one's Courage, allowing you to switch between the two faces of it. The original side is your original Persona, Momotaro, however, you can change it to the second face that will allow you to summon your partner."
"My partner?"
"He resides within the sea of your soul whenever you enter the new realm."
"All Personas are born out of one's soul." Igor said. "When you have a complete hold on your other self, your Persona manifests itself out of your soul, and they reside within you from then on."
"But, what exactly are you saying? My partner?" Tai said.
"You should know of him." Margaret said. "Now, the time has come. Summon your partner to your side. Once you unlock this power, the other Digidestined Persona users shall gain the power to change as well…chosen one…"
In a flash, Tai realizes he was back on the battlefield. He sees that virtually no time has passed since entering the Velvet Room again, which was good. Still, it weirded him out…
"Call my partner…?" Tai mumbled. "What…" He then feels something deep in his soul. He feels the presence of his friend, who was probably trapped in his soul this whole time. He now knows what to do. "Change!" Tai brought his hand forward, towards Momotaro, and Momotaro changed back into his card form. "Greymon!" The card shone, and it flipped to the backside, showing a picture of his Digimon partner. The card then shattered, and something was being summoned.
*I'LL FACE MYSELF (BATTLE)*
A blue aura was rising from the place where Momotaro was, and in his place, was a familiar monster that the Digidestined instantly recognized. Once the blue aura has vanished, the monster roared and stood his ground. This monster was orange, with blue stripes, and has a guard on his snout. This monster was Tai's Digivolved partner, Greymon. The teens from the other side were able to see the Digimon from where they were.
"GYAAHH!" Teddie screamed, in shock.
"Greymon!?" Kari exclaimed. "Where did he come from!?"
"Well, it's about time you called me, Tai!" Greymon exclaimed. "I've been waiting for a long time, y'know!?"
"Sorry, bud." Tai said. "I just couldn't hear your voice trapped within my soul…"
"Aw, no fair! This blows! They get to use two Personas!?" Yosuke yelled.
"They?" Tai then turned to where Yu and the others were, and Yu had another Persona right behind him that doesn't look like Izanagi. This Persona looks like a floating Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin head, wearing a cape, and a witch's hat, whilst also holding a lantern with a singular white glove.
"How did you do that!?" Matt said, able to talk, considering Shadow Sora had lightened her grip.
"Our Digimon have been trapped in us the whole time."
"What?"
"Call to them. They're in there."
"Call?" When Tai mentions that their Digimon partners were trapped in their souls, Matt and Kari feel the presence of them at that moment. They feel their power, and the desire to be let out. They faced their Personas respectively and commanded them to change. They did, and they turned into their tarot card forms. "Garurumon!"
"Gatomon!" Kari exclaimed.
The cards shattered, and something else was being summoned in their places. Kari's feline Digimon, as well as Matt's ferocious Digimon Gatomon and Garurumon, were summoned in their Personas' places.
"Alright!" Kari exclaimed.
"Oof…What happened?" Gatomon groaned while holding her head. "It felt like I went on some wacky ride."
"Matt!" Garurumon exclaimed, upon seeing his friend getting strangled by the neck.
"C-Could use a little help here…" Matt chocked out.
"Don't worry! Hiyah!"
Garurumon rushed forward and tried clawing the shadow, before the feathers of Shadow Sora were shot towards him, forcing him to stop, and avoid the attacks.
"Kari, mind bringing me up to speed?" Gatomon said to Kari, as she helps her get up.
"It's a long story." Kari said. "Right now, we need to help out Sora."
"Right." Gatomon then starts running towards the shadow, swiftly dodging her attacks, and managed to get up to the Shadow's face and claw her, making her stumble back.
"Gah! Y-You brat!" Shadow Sora exclaimed while diverting her attention towards Kari. She fires a blast of fire towards her, but Garurumon was able to pick the young girl up and get her out of harm's way.
"Thanks, Garurumon." Kari said.
"No problem!" Garurumon answered. "Just keep hanging on! I need to find an opening to get Matt free."
While Garurumon was avoiding Shadow Sora's attacks, Tai and Yu both met up with each other in the center of the room.
"You can change your Persona too?" Yu said.
"Y-Yeah. I know it's not the right time and everything, but this is supposed to be Koromon." Tai said. "He's grown into this big guy."
"Yup!" Greymon said.
The two of them look towards the two battles that were going on separately on each side of the room.
"How about we trade?" Tai said. "I can take care of Chie's shadow, while you help out with Sora's."
"Sounds like a plan." Yu said. The two Persona users nod, and they started headed off to help each other out. Tai went to Chie, and Yosuke, while Yu went to Matt, Sora and Kari.
"Hey, Yosuke! Need some help?" Tai said as he and Greymon ran up.
"Don't interfere, brat!" Chie's shadow snapped at the boy while trying to attack them with her whip. Both Tai and Greymon dodged the attack, as Yu got up to the others.
"Matt! Hang in there!" Yu exclaimed.
"T-This isn't the time for jokes, Yu!" Matt yelled, as he still tries to get out of Shadow Sora's grip, and as Garurumon avoids another attack from Shadow Sora. Yu then brought his hand forward to the shadow and commanded his new Persona.
"Pyro Jack!" Yu yelled, as his Jack-O-Lantern Persona flew forward, and looked like it was absorbing some of the flames that Shadow Sora was sending forward to them. It gave Garurumon an opening to go forward, and chew on the feathers that were holding Matt's neck, and rip it into two, freeing Matt.
"Alright! Time to turn the tables!" Tai exclaimed. "Greymon!"
"Got it!" Greymon shouted. "Nova Blast!" Greymon fired off his attack towards the ribbons holding Yosuke's neck and released him.
"Gah…Thanks Kamiya. That's another one I owe ya." Yosuke said as he landed on his feet. Shadow Chie then snarled at the two of them, as they grouped up. "Shall we take her?"
"Yeah!" Tai said. He then starts running forward, as Shadow Chie tries to get a hold of his neck, but Greymon acted as a diversion. The ribbons caught hold of his tail, but he proved to be stronger, as he was able to easily pull Shadow Chie to the ground. Though shortly after, she recovers swiftly, pissed off.
"Rgh…Why, why you! You're…You're nothing against me!" Shadow Chie yelled.
Meanwhile, Gatomon slashed at Shadow Sora, as Pyro Jack continued to absorb attacks. Eventually, Gatomon was able to give the shadow the slip, and topple her onto the ground. However, she got up, and blasted them all away with fire. Though it wasn't too serious of damage, especially towards Yu, who had fire resistance because of Pyro Jack. Shadow Sora fired her feathers towards Yu and Pyro Jack, before Garurumon dashed towards the shadow, and bashed into her before she even gets the attack out.
"Neko Kick!" Shadow Sora didn't see Gatomon dart over to her fast enough and got kicked straight in the face. The Digimon then landed beside her partner, as Narukami gets up.
"Why…You…!" Shadow Sora groaned.
"So, that thing's supposed to be Sora's feelings or something?" Gatomon said.
"Pretty much." Kari said. "And we're here to calm it down."
"Alright. We can't waste any more time." Yu said. "Let's finish this."
*REACH OUT TO THE TRUTH*
"Right!" The two other kids nod.
"Gatomon?" Kari said, looking at her Digimon.
"Yep." Gatomon nods. "She looks ready to go berserk though." She then turned to Yu. "Hey, you control that Pyro Jack guy, right? I've been working on something in the Digital World for quite some time, but I need to get really close. Can you cover my back?"
"Right. On it." Yu nods.
"Yosuke?" Tai said as he and Yosuke start preparing to perform the finishing blow to Shadow Chie.
"Yep. I got it dude." Yosuke said. "Jiraiya!"
Jiraiya went forward and fired off Garu. It wasn't that effective on the shadow at first, before Tai brought his hand forward.
"Greymon!" Tai yelled.
"Nova Blast!" Greymon fired off a fire attack towards Shadow Chie, and with the wind spell, it was creating flames everywhere, which was very effective towards Shadow Chie, and it had engulfed her, as she was screaming in pain. The shadow then collapsed onto the ground, in a big heap of flames and fabric.
"Alright!"
"Okay, let's go! Pyro Jack!" Yu yelled.
"Gatomon!" Kari yelled.
The Persona and Digimon both ran forward towards Shadow Sora to finish her off. Pyro Jack absorbs the incoming flames while Gatomon jumped right up at Shadow Sora's face. She then flipped backwards and allowed her tail to hit the shadow right in her face, disorienting her. It looked like she mainly used her tail ring in the attack, which looked like caused the shadow to lose some of its power.
"That looked like it debearitated her!" Teddie exclaimed.
"Heh, told you I was working on something new!" Gatomon smirked. "Now then! Lightning Paw!" She then slashed at the shadow, which caused it to stumble back, while Yu quickly changed his Persona again.
"Izanagi!" Yu called out, as his Persona flies forward, just as Gatomon was able to get to a safe distance, and the Persona performed the finishing slices at it, as it collapses to the ground.
"Whoa…Nice…"
Soon after they all finished the two tough shadows, they reverted into mirrored images of their real selves.
*ENDS*
"We did it!" Kari exclaimed.
"Sora?" Yu said, looking at the pre-teen. "Go on."
"…Right…" Sora nods. She slowly walks up to her other self, who looks like she's not as aggressive as she was before. "I'll…I'll admit I actually do think of those things…I know that I can't show my love as easy as my friends can, and those thoughts about my friends are my own…I know they are the truth, because, you're me, and I'm you." Calm Shadow Sora nods, and smiles.
The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest. Shadow Sora's body then dissolved into a blue aura and turned into something like her violent form. There weren't any chains on her legs, and the feathers were more of a defined red, instead of red and black. The Crimson machinery parts were more bionic, like an android, and were silver. The talons were still sharp, but they were shorter and has an obsidian color to them. Lastly, the head resembled that of a combination of dove and swan, and the bandana – turned into a scarf – has the normal symbol for the crest of Love on it.
It then turned into a card form, and floated down towards Sora, right into her hands. It has a heart in the center of the card, with two silhouettes on both sides of the heart, showing a man and a woman. The symbol for the crest of love was right in the heart silhouette. The roman numeral on the bottom of this card shows 6 (VI).
"I-Is this…?" Sora said, holding the card.
"It's your Persona." Yu said.
"Now you got one, like us." Kari said.
"My own…Persona…" Sora said. She then felt her legs weaken, and she fell to her knees on the ground, and the others all ran up to her, making sure she's alright.
"Are you okay?" Matt said, holding Sora steady.
"I-I'm fine…Just a bit dizzy."
"You're probably tired from getting your own Persona." Yu said.
"I don't think it's safe for Sora to be in here." Kari said. "Maybe we should head back?"
"N-No way!" They heard Chie's voice from the other side of the room. Yu starts walking over there, while Matt helps Sora to her feet, and keeps her steady, as they and Kari start following.
"Look Chie. I know you want to find Yukiko, but, you need to take it easy." Yosuke said.
"Yeah. You need to rest." Tai said.
"B-But…I can keep going…" Chie groaned.
"Don't overdo it!" Teddie said.
"They're right." Yu said as they all walked up to them. "We want to save Yukiko as much as you do, but you need to rest. With all of us here together, we have a better chance of saving her. That's why it's most important for all of us to be at full strength."
"Yeah…I'm getting a bit tired too…" Kari said.
"All of us are pretty exhausted…" Tai said. "We can't save Yukiko in this state."
"B-But, Yukiko's still trapped in here, right?" Chie said.
"Don't worry." Teddie said. "Yuki-chan's normal, and the shadows in here don't attack normal people. They'll only attack when the fog lifts here."
"So she'll be safe until then?" Kari said.
"I'm positive."
"Why? I don't get it." Chie said.
"It's a long story." Yosuke said.
"Until then, just trust us." Yu said. "Yukiko will be fine in here for now until the fog starts covering Inaba."
"B-But, Yukiko will be in here all alone!" Chie exclaimed. "She'll be so scared!"
"There's going to be more enemies up ahead." Yosuke said. "If we just charge in as is, it'll just a death sentence for us. Then who'll be the ones to save Yukiko-san!? We can't fail no matter what. Am I wrong?"
"No." Kari said. Chie then sighed profusely, as they helped her up.
"Alright…" Chie said. "…I'm sorry about rushing in before…I shouldn't have…"
"Don't worry." Sora said. "I kinda followed you in here all by myself too without the others. I wanted to make sure you were safe. I mean, I couldn't just let you go in all alone. I thought of the monsters that could have gotten you, but I didn't really think of myself."
"That's why you have the crest of Love Sora." Tai said. "Always think of others before yourself."
"Right…Thanks Tai."
"I may have heard you while I was running Sora-chan." Chie said. "Sorry for not listening to you. I was so focused on Yukiko, that I didn't really think of who was following me…"
"No, it's fine."
"Hey, you think after all this, and if- I mean, when we get Yukiko back, think we can go out for some nikudon?"
"Yeah! Sounds like a plan!"
"That's good."
"Alright, let's head on out of here." Yosuke said as everyone starts heading off.
Afternoon
The current group was hanging out by Junes Food Court, as they see Yosuke helping out alongside the other employees.
"Hmph. Too tired to keep on going in the TV World, but not too tired to work a shift…" Tai said.
"Well, I don't think his dad is letting him get a lot of off days." Matt said.
"Or maybe he used them all up already."
"So…whenever the fog comes here, the fog lifts in the TV World, and the shadows will attack anyone?" Chie said, affirming to what Yu told her.
"Yeah. That's right." Yu nods.
"So…That's our deadline, right?"
"Yeah."
"Oh…Poor Yukiko…"
"Don't worry about it." Taichi said. "Look, we all agreed on finding Yukiko-san, so let's not worry."
"I checked the weather forecast on those TVs in the electronic department." Matt said. "There aren't any days where it's going to be foggy."
"We got plenty of time then, but let's not get too distracted. Remember, saving Yukiko is a top priority."
"Yep. We got it." Kari said.
"Thank you, guys…" Chie said.
"You're welcome." Sora said.
"And as a token of my thanks, I'll show you something." Chie then reached into her pocket and got out her green flip-phone. She opened it up and showed a picture of her and a pretty big dog off to everyone.
"Aww, he looks cute." Kari said.
"Yeah…He's a serious porker and stinks like nobody's business. But if it weren't for this guy, me and Yukiko wouldn't have been friends, to begin with." Chie said.
"I'm sure you give him lots of love, huh?" Sora said.
"Yeah. If you want, you can come over and visit him."
"Sure. I'd love to."
"Yeah…" Chie said, as she starts staring into the picture, and starts thinking of Yukiko again. Starting today everyone is now a team. Their days of pursuing this case of mysterious murders and the mysterious TV world alongside each other has begun.
Evening
Like what Matt had told them from earlier, the weather forecast has stated that it'll be sunny and cloudy throughout the week, with a small rain shower in the middle of the week, though that isn't going to create any fog.
After dinner, the two siblings headed upstairs to their room, and Koromon and Salamon were waiting for them.
"Ate a nice dinner?" Koromon said.
"We saved some leftovers for you for tomorrow." Kari said.
"Thanks." Salamon said.
"So, let's talk about something." Tai said.
"What? Talk about what?"
"About you getting stuck in our souls."
"Stuck in your soul?" Koromon said.
"You really don't know how you get trapped in us?"
"Not really. I mean, we're right here, aren't we Tai?"
"Well yeah, but, how exactly does this happen? I mean one moment you're with us, but whenever we go into the TV World, you disappear."
"As we tell you, we're with you for one second, and the next, we're engulfed by this bright light." Salamon said.
"You sure nothing else happens?" Kari said.
"Positive."
"I mean, from that last fight, we remember you calling our names, and we appear right next to you guys, but that's about it." Koromon said.
"Right when we changed Personas…" Tai said, crossing his arms.
"Hey, that's right…" Kari said. "How did you know that we can change our Persona, Tai?"
"Igor made me pay another visit in that Velvet Room thing."
"But, I didn't see any limo pick you up."
"I'm still not sure of what the heck happened there myself, sis…Gah, this is too much for today…Alright everyone, let's just accept these things. The Digimon somehow become part of our souls or Personas or whatever whenever we go into the TV, and the Velvet Room is a creepy place that not even I can describe."
"How are we supposed to fight then?" Koromon said.
"Well, whenever we call upon you guys, I guess. Okay, this is enough for today. Let's all get some rest for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we're going to start fighting our way into that castle, and get Yukiko-san out of there, safe and sound, got it?"
"Got it." Everyone said, nodding.
NEXT SCENE