CHAPTER 13 – TAKE ME FOR WHAT I'M WORTH

[Musical Reference: Take Me For What I'm Worth – The Searchers; United Kingdom, 1965]

Thursday, 16th April 2011 – After School – Yasogami High School

Minako and Chie had met up in front of the school gate after classes ended for the day, and both headed in the well known direction of JUNES. There was a tense, awkward silence between them.

Minako assumed that she and her friends found some way to interact with the TV world, which carried interesting implications. Was it the Wild Card Philemon told her to assist? Were they an antagonistic group, even if unintentionally?

Chie on the other hand felt slightly wary of the newcomer, but moreso was not looking forward to Hanamura and Narukami's reaction to her accidentally revealing their shared secret after such a short time. But if her word was truly trustworthy and so was her claim of martial skill, they'd have a valuable ally in case Yukiko really was in danger as they feared.

As they reached their destination, the JUNES Electronics store, Minako's suspicions were getting confirmed by the minute. Getting there meant passing by Elizabeth clad in a green dress, sunglasses, a round-brim hat and sipping from a cup of coffee in the food court. Her backup was there as promised, so she followed Satonaka to her two co-conspirators.

Yosuke Hanamura and the silver-haired transfer student Yuu Narukami stood in the middle of the TV department of the electronics store.

"Oh, Satonaka! You're late." Yosuke said to her, before spotting Minako approaching just behind her.

"Hey there." She said to the duo, repressing the image of the form the JUNES employee took in Saki's mind palace.

"What's this? Why is Shiomi here?" He asked in an accusatory tone, to which Chie reacted angrily.

"Hey, knock it off! She said she could help us!"

The two bickered among themselves for a bit, as their tall comrade stood silent with a neutral expression and stared unflinchingly at Minako. She didn't even care about his odd behavior, as she found herself doing the same.

"What's with this guy?" She thought, as Elizabeth watched from afar in slight awe, lowering her sunglasses to better observe the scene unfolding.

Eventually, the vitriolic friends stopped arguing and Yosuke saw the staredown happening.

"Uh, you okay?" The two snapped out of it, and returned to full awareness of their surroundings.

"Yeah, I'm good." The man replied, satisfying Yosuke.

"Right, so. How much has Satonaka told you, Shiomi-Senpai?"

"I was investigating the midnight channel. I was worried that the person that shows up on there could be in danger, like that woman that got killed. She approached me and wanted to know why I was asking around about Amagi. I told her what you just heard. ...she said you guys were also looking into it?" The extensive description calmed Yosuke's mind, as he grudgingly admitted to himself that it wasn't such a bad idea of his classmate. Meanwhile, Chie was pleasantly surprised that she chose not to mention her question on fighting.

"Can you fight?" Narukami asked in a calm tone of voice.

"I can. I'm pretty good with a naginata. Why the question?"

"Watch this." Much to Yosuke's alarm, his classmate stuck his hand into the TV, not caring if there were any customers in the unusually packed electronics department. However, it was retracted very quickly as he let out a restrained expression of pain.

"What's wrong?!" Yosuke asked in alarm, as seemingly none of them noticed Minako's lack of surprise.

"Ssh! Not so loud!" Chie berated Yosuke, before adding: "Oh, Something bit you! Are you okay?" Chie added.

Yuu returned to full composure, while massaging the bite mark. "I'm fine."

"How did you do that?" Minako asked, feigning curiosity and tilting her head to the side.

"I don't know. I just can." he replied earnestly. In truth, he noticed her unusual composure even as he was in pain from the bite.

"We found out a few days ago. Turns out, if you go inside, there's some sort of weird world filled with this nasty fog. If you don't wear the special glasses the bear makes, you can barely see anything." Yosuke explained.

"Glasses?"

"Yeah, the bear makes them."

Minako knew she was cutting it close, so she bet once again on feigned ignorance. "You're not making any sense."

"He's telling the truth. I'm betting he's the one that bit him!" Chie turned to the TV and continued in a louder-than-supposed tone of voice "You hear me? I know you're there."

"Ooh, have I lost the game?" A familiar voice came through the speakers of the TV, actually surprising the former SEES leader.

"What game?" Yosuke asked, not wanting to know the answer and immediately changed the subject. "Listen, can you sense anyone inside there?"

"Nope! This land is beary much empty, as always!" Teddie replied in an unusually cheerful tone of voice.

"Are you sure? There's nobody inside?" Chie asked while increasingly irritated and anxious as a follow-up.

"I'm beary lonely here, I don't smell anyone… and my nose is running at 100%!" He answered back, ending in a phrase she heard Aigis say during their last encounter. "A good sign?" Minako thought.

"I'm gonna go warn Yukiko anyway. I don't think she's going anywhere this weekend, but…"

"Yeah, that's a good idea. It would be good if she didn't go out alone for the time being either." Minako interjected, surprising the sporty girl and earning a look of approval from Yosuke.

"I agree. It would be good if you walked her to school on Monday." He said.

"Yeah, I'll do that." Chie was about to leave, but was stopped by Yosuke speaking up again.

"Satonaka, what's your cell number? It would be best if we kept in contact just in case."

The trio exchanged phone numbers as Minako watched on the side, excluded from the group talk, as Yosuke bid farewell to Chie.

"What about her?" Yuu asked his friend as Chie had already left in a hurry.

He ignored his friend's question and went straight to Minako "That must be a lot to take in for one day, huh? Sorry you got caught up in this mess."

She shrugged and replied with a smile on her face. "It's alright. You three work well together."

Yuu smiled slightly at the comment, and so did Yosuke.

"So, you still wanna help? You don't have to, if you don't." the brown-haired boy asked her.

"Yeah. I'm up for it. What's the deal with the 'bear' anyway?"

It was Yuu's to reply: "He was there once we got there. He lives there."

"A talking bear that lives inside a TV." Minako said in fake skepticism.

"He's definitely not a real bear… or a human? He wears this big costume, but it turns out if you try to take it off… it's empty. He's also the only thing inside that doesn't try to kill you."

"Huh." The news of Teddie being a walking costume was new to her. This time, her surprise was genuine.

"We can show you." The leader was suspicious of her motives, and bet on the fact that she would refuse the chance to go in alone, suspecting she already knew of the TV world. However, Yosuke saw no such thing, and inadvertedly ruined his plans.

"Let's just go home for today, and keep our eyes out for the Midnight Channel."

Yuu didn't react in any way and just accepted his comrade's suggestion. Minako nodded her head and suggested exchanging contact information. The group dispersing, she made her way to the food court where she sat down by the well disguised Elizabeth.

She took off her sunglasses, and loooked directly at Minako.

"It's him." She said.

"The Wild Card?"

Elizabeth remained still, as she was seeing him calmly watching from afar. But what was left unsaid was good enough for Minako, as her friend confirmed what she already suspected.

That evening, the television turned on by itself once again. All doubt was cleared from the identity of the person in the Midnight Broadcast. Yukiko Amagi was clad in an outfit straight from a gala night, advertising her search for a prince. It was something straight from a low quality TV show.

Yosuke Hanamura – Sent, 12:08PM – Did u watch the mchannel?

Shiomi Kotone – Sent, 12:10 AM – yes

Yosuke Hanamura – Sent, 12:10PM – Meet us JUNES tomorrow, ill tell narukami and satonaka

Friday, 17th April 2011 – After School – JUNES

Minako headed to meet her new companions at the assigned spot, only to arrive and see Hanamura and Narukami being dragged by a policeman while in handcuffs. Another cop followed him, holding a Katana and two large knives. She wasted no time to hide by swerving into the bathroom hallway and sneakily looking at the group. The two got arrested for an unknown reason, likely weapons possession. Did one of them really get caught smuggling them inside, in such a low security area?

It cast doubts in her mind that Narukami's group had any previous significant experiences with the TV world, for it seemed like a major display of incompetence to her. She was worried for them, as they could easily get themselves killed even with Narukami's wild card abilities.

The matters of their arrest were an unexpected development, and not a welcome one either. She'd rather avoid dealing with them again after Dojima-san's interrogation. Mitsuru might be able to help, but using the influence of a wealthy and powerful individual for a minor matter would attract suspicion both from the local police and Narukami and Hanamura themselves. Instead, she wrote to Tamaki and asked for her help in talking to the cops, as she would do what's necessary.

Amagi appeared in the midnight channel with an odd routine just as that journalist did, so there might not be much time left. Her companions of all sorts were held up by daily life's commitments and distance. Only Elizabeth was near enough to make a difference. The former velvet room attendant arrived within 10 minutes of the phone call. Neither of them brought any weapon and would have to rely on their Personas and the help of Teddie once crossing the threshold to the TV world.

"Once more unto the breach." Elizabeth commented while landing gracefully on the usual spot, catching Minako in her arms as she followed and aided her on her feet.

She thanked Elizabeth and the silver-haired woman sensed something peculiar. "Another palace has sprung up, as we feared." Elizabeth had put on a pair of blue glasses she took from her pocket. "I suggest we talk with the local population."

"Glasses. They told me… how did you get these?" Minako was curious, but more interested in acquiring a pair for herself. Should they truly work, it would free up her friend as a fighter instead of being stuck in a navigational role for Minako's own safety.

"I came back here a few times in the evening to talk with the Bear. He likes the company, even if he was very scared of me at first." Elizabeth chuckled at her own comment, as Teddie sppotted the two.

"Oh! The Blue Lady and the girl with the ghost persona!" Teddie welcomed them while approaching with a spring in his step.

"Hi Teddie. We're looking for someone. Have you sensed anyone coming here?" Minako asked, hoping he'd be able to provide details a mere visitor might not pick up on.

"Mmh… I have. Some friends of yours have also been looking for someone." Teddie's expression showed no worry and it seemed he felt quite comfortable with being among humans, a stark change to how he was before. "Just over there."

His expression turned to surprise, as he spoke up once again, just as the two were ready to thank him and head off. "Take these, they'll help." The bear handed Minako a pair of glasses, which she put on no hesitation. They were larger than usual and felt like cheaply made novelty glasses, but helped see through the fog clearly just as Elizabeth's magic had.

"The Karl Marx Glasses. A classic." Elizabeth commented.

"I don't think he wore glasses." Minako answered back as she took the pair off to inspect them. Indeed, a fake moustache, nose and thick eyebrows were present. She turned to Teddie, holding out the glasses in her palm. "Funny, but do you have anything more practical?"

As soon as she spoke these words, a sudden loss of consciousness befell both her and Elizabeth, and Teddie forgot what he was doing.

Friday, 17th April 2011 – ?

"Welcome to the Velvet Room" Igor's voice was the first thing Minako and Elizabeth heard after waking up. Elizabeth perked up at the sound of the familiar voice and got up swiftly compared to Minako.

"Master! I'm honored to be summoned here." She said to the sitting man in the moving car they found themselves in. Beyond the bar and Igor's card-reading table sat Margaret and a young girl around Minako's age. Unlike Elizabeth, Theodore or the silvery-blond woman sitting next to her, she was not wearing the uniform of a Velvet Room attendant. She had black hair and a visible large forehead, which she covered with a blue hat with a "V" on it and below a padlock-choker necklace the girl wore a white shirt with no sleeves and a black tie. Her expression betrayed a mix of perpetual annoyance and a helpless confusion.

"More weirdos?" The new face muttered quietly as to be unheard, averting her look.

Margaret hid behind her graceful personality, but it was undeniable that she looked happy at the sight of Elizabeth. Despite that, she chose not to speak until her master's dealings were completed.

"I'm sure you are wondering why you were called to this place. I wished to congratulate you on behalf of my master for your progress in solving the mystery of Inaba. However, another matter has arisen which calls to your attention. The appearance of the 'Midnight Channel' has begun stirring up the masses to a degree long not seen. The longer it is allowed to exist, the more disastrous the consequences might be." Igor leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, gripping one hand with the other. "But you already know all of this."

He continued to the full attention of Elizabeth and Minako "Our master expects other Persona users to appear, perhaps even wild cards. Be wary, for a puppetmaster has been set free."

As soon as the long-nosed man finished, he vanished without a trace, alarming only Minako.

"T… That's it?" She asked, still shook from Igor's disappearance.

"Sister. I had not expected to see you again this soon." Margaret ignored the question and turned her attention to her predecessor, who was just as enthusiastic about seeing her sibling.

Minako felt annoyance overpower other emotions once again at the consistent cryptic treatment from active velvet room occupants. This subsided once she saw the unknown girl stare at her from her seat on the couch, without saying a word.

"They're always like this." The young woman stated when their eyes met.

"The velvet room attendants?"

"Yeah, the blue people. Always looking down on me. Never telling anything." Her expression remained unchanged, but the source of resentment was becoming less of a mystery. "Are you like the other guy?"

"Other guy? I'm Minako. What about you?"

"Marie… apparently."

"Nice to meet you." She extended her hand in greeting, recognizing the western name of the stranger before her. She looked back at her with confusion and Minako retracted it back. The lack of words between them was suddenly backed by silence from the other side of the peculiar vehicle. Elizabeth and Margaret finished their conversation and the younger sibling turned to face her former guest and current close friend, letting their eyes meet.

As that happened, the two were booted out of the Velvet Room, into the TV world as the sight of Margaret, Marie and the bright colors disappeared into the fog. Both of them were on their legs and alone once again. Even Teddie was gone, which left them directionless. Minako still had the comical glasses in her pocket and put them on after detaching the rubber nose and fake facial hair.

"Elizabeth, can you still sense anything? Damn that Igor, who knows how much time we lost."

Elizabeth was unhappy hearing her friend talk ill of the master of the velvet room, but understood the feeling that came from the attitude the old man had towards guests. Nodding, she recited the spell she used to navigate with in the past and got an immediate result. "Just past this bridge. It's not far at all."

No time was wasted as they jogged towards the source while looking out for shadow ambushes or Teddie. Having crossed the metal structure and a couple hundred meters, a building emerged from the fog. Large red brick walls surrounded it, with a path lined with stone statues of prancing horses on the sides leading to a large entryway. The gate was the size of a Christian temple's entrance and had a semi-circular window above it. More importantly, the doors were missing, replaced by a wavy distortion of reality.

"The sky over Inaba… This is definitely a palace." Minako commented, reminded of the unsettling appearance of Saki's mind palace.

Elizabeth took once again her previous navigational stance and quickly reached another conclusion. "I'm detecting other humans. They're already inside, a few floors above us."

Minako immediately thought of Hanamura, Satonaka and Narukami and her damning words of Igor before. However far they managed to make it into the dungeon, she had to reach them quickly. There was no telling in how much danger they placed themselves in.

She and Elizabeth ran inside and saw a luxurious environment with checkered floor tiles, gold lined columns, ornate windows, red-tinted carpets made from some exotic animal's fur and a bunch of decomposing shadows. The layout was relatively simple and they found the stairs up with minimal resistance.

"More visitors! Ahahaha, how splendid! Come, princes. Join the line of suitors!" A voice rang out as soon as they stepped off the stairs on the second floor, just as Saki's memories had in her own palace.

"Another memory? It sounded more like she was…"

"Talking to us, yes." Elizabeth finished her companion's sentence. "The shadow knows we're here. Konishi's did too, but wanted to make us see something, instead of taunting us. I see… so she's that kind of person?"

Minako didn't understand her friend's final musings, but felt the need to be more on guard considering their enemy knew what they were doing. As no more taunts came from the girl's shadow, they moved on ahead into a large circular room. There, they saw Chie Satonaka sitting on the floor, with her back on the wall with a weary expression on her face. The two walked toward her and she noticed them approaching, quietly letting out a "damn it."

"Shiomi-senpai? You're here?" Chie asked; her voice wary, with fear in her eyes.

"You're injured. Here, let me help you. Ishtar! Amrita!" Elizabeth summoned a Persona emerging from the spellbook she always carried into battle. Minako hadn't seen Elizabeth summon one since they fought a few days before Nyx arrived to end life on Earth. It was the most difficult fight of her life, but that training was still not enough to ward off death. It was still very welcome to have her on her side.

Chie felt invigorated, no longer weary from the circumstances leading to her forced rest in the palace. She rose on her feet and felt ready to get going. Cautiously tensing her muscles, ready to fight her rescuers if need be, she chose her further words carefully. "Thank you. Have you come for me?"

Minako shook her head in denial, but was indeed curious as to how it was that she was here. "Satonaka, did you come here alone? This place is dangerous."

Chie hesitated when confronted by her school upperclasswoman and an unknown person she had not seen before. She froze up and did not provide an answer to the question asked.

"Satonaka, this is important!" Minako's temper flared up and she asked the short-haired girl in a harsher tone than she hoped she'd use.

Chie adopted a battle stance, ready to stall them as long as necessary and called out her persona. "Tomoe!"

It had an unstable form and visible recent bruising all over its body, seen through the being's tattered golden jumpsuit. Even she knew that she would not be able to do much even against weak foes in this state, but it was a prime chance to prove she had what it took to be a hero.

Minako summoned Eurydice in retaliation, but Elizabeth grabbed both parties' attention with a clap of her hands.

"We do not have time for a duel here, and did not come to fight anyone but flimsy shadows. Would you kindly put away your personas, please?" Minako did as Elizabeth suggested, but Chie kept idling in battle stance. "It's too earlyy, you're gonna straaain yourself again."

Chie refused to do that, but felt a dizzyness through her body and was forced to surrender to the blue woman's demand, retracting Tomoe back to her body.

"Thank you." Elizabeth stated.

"Elizabeth is right." Minako sighed. "Satonaka, can you help us find Amagi or the others? Elizabeth can get you to safety."

"Y...Yeah, okay. They've gone up ahead. Not like there's any way for you to avoid them if you keep going up." Chie relaxed and felt the exhaustion from before hit her once again. "Ugh. Where were you? We tried to call you earlier, but you didn't respond. You're the reason why Hanamura and Narukami are rushing. You could have gone in yourself or… who knows what you could have done."

Minako had enough of today's confusion and wanted the mission to be finally over, and it seems like Satonaka felt the same way. She was found as she sat down here, beat down from being involved in some combat that injured even her persona. It hit Minako that she was once again responsible for someone coming to harm, but with suspicions between both sides, this felt unavoidable. Aiding them was the least she could do. It was what she had to do.

"Don't worry Satonaka, I will see your friends get to safety. And Elizabeth? I'll be fine. If it gets too dangerous, I'll retreat. You have my word." Elizabeth smiled at her companion and thought to herself that she hoped her headstrong nature won't make her break that promise.

Minako took off in direction of the stairs, while Elizabeth helped Chie walk out of the palace in the opposite direction.

"Ah, just one left. Come, princess. Come gawk at the famous High School Innkeeper and try to fight for a place at her side." More taunts came from the voice of the shadow overseeing the palace as Minako stepped on the third floor. The remains of battle were more visible here than on the first floor, fresher too. She faintly heard the clash of metal, as well as explosive sounds from the floor above so she rushed as fast as she could in the direction of the stairs. Being lost for a few minutes in a teleportation maze did her no favors, but eventually made it to a floor where the sounds got louder and louder. Suddenly, a couple of screams reverbed through the luxurious hallways and the sounds ceased. Minako was just a few turns away, and she arrived at the aftermath. The remains of a dice enemy, shattered and decomposing, and Yuu Narukami and Yosuke Hanamura laying unconscious on the floor.

"Eurydice! Marecarm!" The persona emerged from Minako's self and revived the two others she was supposed to meet with today. They awoke with coughs and groans of pain, but were quickly back on their feet.

"Ow… what the?" The knife wielder felt confused and his head hurt like hell.

"We live. You revived us? Thank you." Narukami on the other hand felt fine and didn't question Minako's appearance in the palace. In fact, he was perfectly calm as if he had expected her arrival. He opened a bottle of soda and started drinking it as his wounds naturally disappeared. Mind Palaces had the same peculiarities as Tartarus and some of these were not bad at all.

"What the hell are you doing here? You ignore all calls and now you rescue us? I'm glad, but…" Yosuke recovered from his initial pain and commented immediately on the sight of the upperclasswoman in front of them.

"What happened guys? I saw you get arrested."

"My uncle let us out." Narukami replied instantly.

"Your uncle?"

"Yes. Ryotaro Dojima. He's a detective"

Minako tensed at the mention of the familiar name, even though it was no immediate threat to any of them. She thought back to her earlier meeting with Igor and the mystery man Philemon, and how fate always seems to intertwine itself in ways favorable to their predictions, which annoyed her.

"Right. I went in with… an ally after what happened. I hoped to rescue Amagi as fast as possible. I'm sorry I… Then I got held up by the blue people."

"Ah, I see." Yuu understood immediately, and smiled at the surprising news someone else but him knew of the Velvet Room and its residents. Yosuke on the other hand had a quizzical look on his face, but hoped his partner would explain everything eventually.

"Ho-hold on! Who's this ally of yours, Shiomi-Senpai? And ...where are they?"

"It's a long story, but she's a friend I've known for a long time. She's getting Satonaka to safety now. I had to find you before doing anything else."

Yosuke was satisfied by that answer, looked at the scratches on his skin and thought of the almost-defenceless classmate they left behind, in their efforts to rush to the top floor of the castle. He felt ashamed of what they did, placing someone in danger to save another. Why did his partner urge him to? And why did he follow?

"Satonaka, oh man. Narukami, let's go back for today. We're in no shape to go on like this." He said to the silver-haired man, who looked around, looking for something.

"Yeah, we still have time."

Minako felt as much in a rush as both of them, and thought if she was able to defeat whatever awaited where Amagi's shadow hid by herself. But she admitted that they had a point. Elizabeth was elsewhere, the three underclasspeople were either physically or mentally battered after exploring the dungeon and her last lone fight ended badly. She put away her weapon and they quickly made their way downstairs to escape from the palace, finding a cowering Teddie along the way.

The meeting of the ill-fated expedition groups took place in the entrance area of the TV world, where Elizabeth and a now way better looking Chie Satonaka waited for the others to arrive. The trio consisting of a slightly limping Yosuke, weary Minako and a surprisingly refreshed Narukami arrived soon after, making Chie and Elizabeth turn their attention away from their idle chatter.

"Welcome back. I see you brought your new comrades." The blue-clad woman said to the woman leading the trio, to which she received a smile in return.

"You're making friends already, Eliza-chan? That's nice."

"Is this the ally you mentioned earlier? Not bad, senpai." Yosuke interjected, Chie rolled her eyes at his flirtatious attitude and Elizabeth responded with a chuckle.

"Yeah, that's Elizabeth. We've been through a lot together."

Yuu stepped forward and approached her directly, giving a polite bow in greeting. "I'm Yuu Narukami. It is nice to meet you. Might I presume you're affiliated with the Velvet Room?"

"My my, how polite. Sister is gonna be delighted at having a guest like you. As for your question, I'll leave that to your imagination, wild card." A mischievous smile erupted across her face, reciprocated by a similar reaction from Narukami's side. All had aligned favorably, and it seemed she'd be in a prime position to do what Philemon asked her to do as even Elizabeth approved of the mysterious boy.

Chie and Yosuke looked at Minako, hoping for an explanation, but wishing to avoid a lengthy discussion, she just shrugged and smiled.

After basic introductions and reveal of Minako and Elizabeth's persona powers, they bid goodbye to Teddie and returned to the outside world. Their goal was clear, rescue Yukiko Amagi before the next rainy days. Days that thankfully were still a while off.

Friday, 17th April 2011 – Evening – Minako's room

Shiomi Kotone – Sent, 9:35 PM – i have news! the students i told you about are also persona users and their intentions seem genuine. i won't be needing your help for the time being but we should remain in contact. elizabeth and i have got this!

Aigis – Sent, 9:35 PM – Understood. Please stay safe. We are always ready to help in case of emergencies. Do you all agree?

FYamagishi92 – Sent 9:36 PM – Absolutely! We have your back!

...several people typing…

Yosuke Hanamura – Sent, 10:18PM – Hey Senpai, thx for rescuing us! That stuff u told us of that tatarus place wow! Glad to have u on da team. We going to TVW tomorrow?

Shiomi Kotone – Sent, 10:21 PM – sure! have you asked narukami and satonaka yet?

Yosuke Hanamura – Sent, 10:23PM – Yea, they didnt answer yet

Shiomi Kotone – Sent, 10:24 PM – alright let me know when they do. or tell me tomorrow, i'm in class 3-1