Chapter 2
I am butchering dialogue, battles, and s-links to get the novel version respectable. I can make characters more cynical, mean, out of character, and amusing. My character is "special" personality-wise. My character is a compilation of all members of my mythology club. The personas are more integrated in battle than in the game. I'm giving up on integrating differences in fonts for thoughts and others; I'll just list thoughts as I see them.
If you don't know, the personas can fight more along side. It makes it more "exciting".
Language is by far the biggest issue in this story because it is the novelization of P4. A lot of the story is close to the same, so expect some to be word for word. That means language won't be the nicest at times. Some Chapters are much better than others.
I do have one OC that is in here that messes with the story. If you believe it interferes with a novelization that much, then I suggest you do not read this fic.
I own nothing! Atlus and Atlus USA own my money, SMT, and Persona.
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Souji, like the others, wanted to go home and just crash on his bed after either being inside the TV or waiting for them to get out of said TV. Unfortunately, as he was on his way home, he ran into Yukiko in her kimono by the floodplain. He had noticed the little benches by the Samegawa before as he was walking to school. It was covered from the rain, which was useful, only when the rain wasn't going sideways. Souji was motioned to sit down by Yukiko and he did so. He would rather sleep after killing a frog thingy in a TV, but he listened to her regardless. It was a pretty kimono, all pink and such, and the girl wearing it was cute in Souji's eyes. It wasn't all bad for him. If he wasn't so tired he'd be rather excited and be quite interested.
"Hey…," Souji said, "How are you?" He was tired, but he at least tried to be nice to the girl. Souji thought he should try not to make himself look bad.
"Oh, are you wondering why I'm dressed like this?" Yukiko asked, "I'm running an errand for the Inn. We're really busy right now."
"Oh," Souji said, "I don't know if I could deal with that, running an inn."
"I'm sure you'd do fine," Yukiko assured him. Are you getting used to this place?" Yukiko asked. She was thinking to herself, "I'm being run ragged with all of this."
"I guess," Souji responded. It had only been a few days. He had been in a TV twice, experienced a few murders. It wasn't like it wasn't interesting. It was more interesting than he had expected, but it wasn't like some days in the city that he had been living in. But, Souji wasn't sure if this was a good interesting, or a bad interesting.
"I've never been out of Inaba, so I wouldn't know what it would be like to transfer to a new school…. Oh are you getting along with Chie? I mean, I always leave early, so, umm…," Yukiko rambled,
"We're getting along, I guess," Souji said. "Though, if she's kicking people or hitting them with rope, she can be a bit of a pain," Souji didn't share with Yukiko.
Yukiko continued, "I'm glad to hear that. Chie's very supportive, you know. It's always her who gives me the little extra push I need. I remember when we used to skip class together." She smiled at that.
"Skipping class," Souji thought. He was smiling. "Sounds good to me," Souji said.
"I see. Well, I need to go. I've had a long day, and I'm sure you have to work at the Inn," Souji said, trying to get rid of Yukiko. Souji really needed his sleep. Killing frog-monsters makes one tired, and he felt like his arms would fall off from swinging that golf club.
"You're right..," Yukiko said, "Bye, Souji."
They said goodbye and left in different directions. Souji was glad that Yukiko left in a way. He was very tired, and because it was raining. He would need to look at the Midnight Channel again anyways. Would he be awake at school tomorrow? He doubted it. He would just count on Rion to get his notes, regardless. He never falls asleep, or misses an answer, he was guessing. "Well, he is a robot…," Souji thought, "I do have to ask him why he has a British accent though. He's Japanese, not British."
"Welcome back!" Nanako said, as Souji walked in.
As expected, Dojima wouldn't be coming home tonight. Another person was murdered, and no one has an idea who killed her.
"She was thrown into a TV. How are we supposed to know who killed her?" he thought.
The news was all about the death of Saki Konishi, how Saki was a member of Yasogami High School, a 3rd year student, and so on. "Blah, blah," Souji thought, "Yosuke dealt with his demons, but we have no idea what's going here." Before Nanako could change the channel, the Amagi Inn showed up on the TV screen. That certainly caught Souji's attention. It certainly would be considering that he had just talked to Yukiko only a few hours ago.
"Here we have the famous Amagi Inn. This young lady here is Yukiko Amagi, the soon-to-be youngest manager of the Amagi Inn," the reporter said. A young man, who looked only slightly like a pervert was interviewing Yukiko.
"What a perv," Souji thought.
"Umm… Are you talking to me?" Yukiko seemed extremely nervous.
"Wow… You would be a high schooler, and a manager of this famous inn, which I might add is home to these famous hot springs. Maybe, I should book a room to this inn more often."
"Well…," Yukiko said, "Umm…"
The more the interview went on, the more off-topic the interview got. It ended up being the reporter flirting with Yukiko endlessly, which is pointless with Yukiko. Yukiko wouldn't know flirting if it walked naked in front of her. That's just how it was with Yukiko. Souji rolled his eyes. He didn't know what he would do if he was in Yukiko's shoes. He probably would have killed that reporter by then. Though, it'd probably have looked bad on TV. It really would have looked bad since there were two murders in about… "Two to three days?" Souji thought.
Souji decided to get up and go upstairs. He had a show to watch, well nothing important. It wasn't like Saki was going to appear on the Midnight Channel tonight. But, it was raining tonight, and that meant he might as well watch TV. Only the Midnight Channel was meant to see if anyone else was thrown in the "TV". So as he made his way upstairs, and trudged into his room; he made sure it was still raining outside.
"Of course it's raining… The weather girl said it was going to rain. It was raining earlier," Souji thought, "Of course the Midnight Channel is going to be on. Why did I bother checking it in the first place? The weather lady is always right. Even the girl on the roof of the school said it was going to keep raining."
At the stroke of midnight, Souji made sure he had the TV off. The yellow screen came on the TV. It seemed to be a young female with long hair. A girl wearing a kimono was on the Midnight Channel. That girl looked like Yukiko. He was pretty sure it was Yuki-chan. He chuckled, "Yuki-chan." He said to himself, "Sounds like something that bear would say."
Souji was way too tired to try and think everything through. If Yukiko was in the TV, does that mean she was dead too. Was she going to end on a telephone pole or something?
"That would suck for her," Souji's mind described Yukiko in the TV, "She doesn't sound like that bad of a person. She's just a ditz when it comes to guys. Too bad she's pretty."
Souji went to bed, but not before he did some math problems while standing on one foot with his left arm tied behind his back. He thought his knowledge would improve if he did those problems. "Maybe, if I study I'll get smarter," Souji thought as he got into his futon, "Nah…" He decided he wasn't much of a studious person. Besides, he wasn't that good at balancing on one foot. He had a bump on his head where he had fallen while trying to write mathematical equations with his pencil on his left foot.
Souji got up as he always did, he ate the same food as always cooked by Nanako for breakfast, and headed off to school. "I really need to start making food for myself. I am probably a much better cook than her," he thought.
At least no one was talking about murders, or such while he was walking down the floodplains, or heading down the gates through school. He just dragged Yosuke of the river when he crashed his bicycle. While they were making their way to school, Yosuke motioned to Souji. "Yesterday, umm… thanks for helping me out with Saki-senpai. I knew I had issues with everything, and you helped me out and all. So, thanks."
He nodded, "No problem," is what Souji said, but what he thought was, "Sorry, you missed out on scoring, Yosuke."
At school itself, Chie looked a mess. Not a hot mess, but a mess in general when she ran into the room. Rion was standing around looking well… not distressed, but concerned. Souji guessed that he had obviously seen the Midnight Channel last night too. But, Souji doubted that Rion would ever look distressed. Yosuke looked like… Yosuke, except he was dripping wet. Yukiko was missing from school. "No surprise there… I wonder if she really was in the TV then. I'll call the funeral home, I guess," Souji thought.
Yosuke said to Chie, "Hey, I'm sorry we worried you…,"
"Never mind that," Chie interrupted him, "Is the stuff you said about the Midnight Channel true? I mean about those who you see on it being in the TV."
"We were just talking about that," Yosuke told Chie.
"I haven't been able to get a hold of Yukiko," Chie was hyperventilating, "I called her earlier yesterday."
"This won't turn out well," Souji thought.
Chie was standing next to her desk looking at the rest of them when she said, "I emailed Yukiko last night, and I called her this morning. There was no response!"
"Maybe you are overreacting, Chie," Rion said, "Though it looked like Yukiko, it did not look like she was in pain or choking to death."
"Thanks a lot, jackass," Chie said, ready to kick him.
"Why don't you try calling Yukiko again?" Yosuke suggested.
"Alright," Chie said, making the call to her cell phone, "No response!"
"Try the inn's phone number…," Souji said.
"Right, okay… Hello… Yukiko, please. Hey, we were worried. So, that's why you aren't at school. Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye."
Chie let a large sigh of relief, "She just has to stay at the inn to help out. There is a large group that she has to cater for, and they need the extra help. Oh, yeah, it happens about once a year." She looked mad again, "Don't worry me guys with your crap about already being in the TV!"
"It's just what the bear said!" Yosuke defended himself.
"You just remembered that now?" Souji thought. "Good thing then, huh?" Souji said.
"Right, no problem," Chie said, "So what did you guys say before I arrived?"
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Before Chie arrived,
"So, someone was on the Midnight Channel last night," Rion said. He was standing by Souji's desk. He sighed and pushed up his glassed as he explained, "It was a female dressed in a kimono. I believe it was Yukiko Amagi."
"That's what I thought," Souji agreed, "That's just too weird."
"Wait…," Yosuke said. He had wrung his hair and his clothes out as best he could in the restroom, but his clothes were still wrinkly and damp, "You thought it was Yukiko. So, do you think she's in there?" he asked. He looked worried, "I mean, we see people on that show, and they are already in TV, right?"
"She might be," Souji responded, "Only Teddie would know for sure."
"Oh man, Chie will be freaked," Yosuke said.
"Well, imagine that," Rion said, "Here she comes now." He pointed to the door which was now opening.
---
"So, that's what happened," Chie said. She shrugged, "That was still wasting my time. What do we have to wait for until we talk to the bear?"
"Alright, now all we have to do is survive King Moron's rambling, Kondo's running, and Sofue's shit," Yosuke muttered.
"WHO SAID THAT?" Mooroka yelled as he entered the room.
They all quickly sat down and looked down at their desks to try and not attract attention to themselves. Morooka was certainly bitchy today. Souji felt like smacking something over his head.
He knew he had to head home. He checked with the freaky meteorologist of the future on the roof. She said it would rain again through tonight. "What she says must be true, so help me god," Souji thought.
Before that, Chie and the others were not fully sure that there was no one in the TV. If Yukiko wasn't there, maybe some other kimono-clad girl was in there. The four of them, Souji, Chie, Yosuke, and Rion headed over to Junes to ask "Teddie" if anyone had suffered the fate of being thrown into a TV. Chie insisted on getting some food first, but finally they made their way to the Electronics Department. They stopped in front of the large plasma TV in Junes' Electronic Department.
"We can't just go up and ask the bear…thing, well not in plain sight. We need to make a wall or something," Rion told the others.
"A wall…?" Chie asked.
"He's right. We can't just go up there. People will look at us oddly if Souji just sticks his hand in a TV," Yosuke said.
"They already do," Souji told him.
"Shut up," Yosuke said.
While the wall had been formed by Yosuke on the left, Chie on the right, and Rion behind; Souji went up to make contact with the bear. He stuck his hand in the TV, and pulled it back almost immediately because of an immediate flash of pain. Souji had bite marks on his hand. Freaking bite marks! Souji was going to kill that bear. He didn't care about being nice to that bear anymore. He was going to make a rug out of that bear's fur.
"What happened?" Rion asked.
"It bit me…" Souji said, showing them the bite marks.
"The bear bit you!" Yosuke said.
"Are you okay?" Chie asked.
Souji responded, "I'm bleeding, so I'm going to die from blood loss."
"Shut up, you baby," Chie told Souji as she went up the TV and yelled at the TV to reach the bear, "Hey you! You! We know you're in there."
"Oh, is this a game?" the thing inside the TV asked.
Meanwhile, Souji had cussed out Chie in his mind.
"Does it look like a game? Of course it isn't a game? Have you seen anyone else in your world?" Chie asked
"Umm… Nope, I'm just a lonely bear in here. It's so beary lonely in here."
"Great… The bear is going to be a pain," Souji thought, "At least he isn't the biggest smartass ever like Rion."
"Well, keep an eye out if anyone gets put in there." Yosuke said.
All of the students walked away from Junes. Yosuke stayed behind. He had to deal with annoying part-time employees who were always bugging him about hours and getting some time off. It was not really Souji's problem, but he felt bad for the fact that it was only Yosuke's dad who really worked there, not him. Now, he would only have to deal with that little girl who's singing about Junes. Hopefully, he could do the cooking today instead of eating instant shit.
"Welcome home!" Nanako said to Souji as he came into the door.
"Guess what? No luck, instant food again as the evening passed. I'll probably have to listen to that jingle too," his thoughts betrayed him as a Junes commercial came on at that exact moment. He went to find Dojima's gun, but was unsuccessful.
The rain pattered on the roof for the past few days. It was bothersome, but it gave a good chance to see if anyone was thrown into the TV. Souji thought, "I don't think Chie would want Yukiko thrown in there."
As he watched the clock, making sure the rain was still falling, and then the clock hit midnight. The yellow screen did not appear. Instead, it was an extremely vivid picture. The lighting was off for a TV set, and the picture was not centered. It looked like the background of a castle. Coming through the side of the screen was someone who obviously Yukiko. She was wearing a red, white, and pink renaissance-like dress that was very suggestive that left nothing to the imagination. It was very revealing, and was obviously wearing a corset as her chest was raised to its highest point. It was pretty obvious that her chest wasn't that big in real life.
She looked at the "camera" and the Yukiko said, "Hello…and welcome to Not a Dream, Not a Hoax. I'm off to find myself a Prince Charming. I've got my lacy unmentionables on. (Pointing to both her legs and flashing her raised chest). I'm here to score myself a hot stud. Well, here I go!" She ran off towards to a castle, which had the same swirling design as the Liquor Store that Souji and Yosuke had visited only a couple of days ago.
"Holy shit… Yukiko looked hot," was Souji's first thoughts. He said, "I should call Yosuke though. I wonder what he'll say."
He dialed Yosuke's number, and he answered right away.
"Man, did you see Yukiko?" Yosuke said.
"Umm… Would I be calling if I didn't?" Souji said.
"Right, but it looked like it was on some cheesy TV show."
"Since it wasn't on the yellow screen, don't you think she's alive?" Souji asked. He was reasoning with what the bear had said last time.
"That's what Rion said. He was talking to me while it came on."
"I see," Souji said. He was thinking, "I wonder what he has to say about it."
"Well, Chie is bugging me on the call waiting, so I'll let her cry out her worries," Yosuke told him.
Souji decided he needed sleep before dealing with it. He did have a nice dream about
Yukiko in that outfit, but otherwise Souji knew he'd have to go into the TV again. He also found out he'd need a cold shower after he woke up. That was a little disturbing. "Just after what I saw on the Midnight Channel?" he thought.
Every person in their little group was a little freaked as they got to school. Who wouldn't be when someone else they knew, someone from their class was thrown into the TV?
"Well, since we saw that on the Channel last night, we'll have to check with that bear on how she's doing," Rion said.
"How do you think she's doing, Rion? She's in the TV," Chie asked. She was clearly panicking.
"Calm down, Chie…," Yosuke said.
"No way am I calming down," Chie said, "Don't tell me what to do unless you want a foot stopping you from having kids."
Yosuke shut up after that. Souji decided that Yosuke did want kids as he got older.
Rion whispered to Yosuke, "There's no good answer in this situation. We should just make sure you save her."
It didn't help people were talking about Yukiko being missing from school for a few days in a row. She missed a day or so occasionally because of her working at the inn, but not multiple days in a row. Even the class knew something had to be wrong.
Yosuke and Souji left together towards Junes while Chie and Rion said they had to get something. What, I don't know.
Souji ended up sitting at the same table that they had been at only a couple of days before, the same table only a day or so before Saki Konishi died.
Souji was waiting around for Yosuke, while he was getting something from some department or another. He was a little scared to see what they would be. Maybe, it would be a new golf club. Yosuke eventually did show up. He was carrying two kinds of blades.
"What the hell, are you trying to get us arrested?" was his thoughts.
"So, Souji, which blades do you prefer?" Yosuke showed him the two different swords, "Golf clubs don't make good weapons."
Souji remembered his dream with the sword, and he decided he needed to brush up on the baseball skills. Besides, he already was proficient at the golf club. He told Yosuke, "I guess the katana."
"I think I prefer both, really," Yosuke said. He started doing some sort of impromptu kata that would make a martial artist shake his head in shame. Souji wondered if he should back away because that wakaishizi was getting awfully close to his head.
Unfortunately, a police officer came up at the same time while Yosuke was swinging the damn things around. "Dumbass," Souji thought.
"We have two suspicious characters, brandishing weapons," the officer said.
"Umm, officer this isn't what it looks like," Yosuke said, "We didn't steal them, I guess that doesn't matter in this situation." He waved the weapons by accident.
The officer backed away, "We need backup. One character is getting belligerent."
Souji tried to look as innocent as possible. He wasn't at fault here, but as other officers arrived; they were still taken to the police station. It sucked, really. Being handcuffed, and thrown into a police car. Souji wanted to save Yukiko, not get thrown into jail. "Dumbass," Souji muttered at Yosuke while he was in the police car.
They thought they were in trouble, and Souji believed it would be a permanent mark on his school record, but thankfully Dojima got them out with his connections.
"Thank god I have a detective as an uncle," Souji thought to himself.
"You're lucky I was around. I pulled some strings to get you two out. I don't suggest you do that again. You know we have extra forces around because of what happened recently. Be careful you two," Dojima told them with warning in his voice, and then he walked off.
As Yosuke and Souji walked off towards the exit of the police station, they ran into Dojima's slave, Adachi carrying coffee.
"Oh, what are you guys doing here?" Adachi asked.
"Umm… we came to see Dojima," Souji lied.
"Well, it's a mess here. With everyone looking for the Amagi girl and no one can find her. We brought in extra people, and we don't even have an idea where to start looking. Did anyone say she was laying low for some reason? They say Yamano had harsh words for the inn and caused Amagi's mom to collapse."
A voice broke through the silence, "Adachi! Where is the hell is my coffee?" Dojima yelled.
"Got to go!" Adachi hurried down the corridor.
"Amagi!?" Yosuke looked at Souji, "So they think she's the killer, and they can't find her! She's the one missing!"
"I know, this is stupid," Souji shook his head, as they walked over to the front office where Chie was waiting for them.
"What happened to you guys? I thought you guys were picking up some weaponry."
"Well, we did, but it got confiscated," Yosuke said.
"It's Yosuke's fault," Souji said.
"Well, the thing is, that they think Yukiko is laying low for some reason," Yosuke said.
"Yukiko is the victim here!" Chie yelled.
"I know!" Yosuke yelled back.
"Calm down people," Souji said, "Anyways, where's Rion?" he asked.
Rion is already at Junes, and Yukiko is waiting for us to rescue him," Chie answered, calming down a little.
They ended up by a place called Daidara Metalworks in the North part of the Shopping District.
"What the hell is this?" was Souji's thoughts.
"Some guys were saying they sell metal crap here," Chie said.
"So, are we letting her come along?" Yosuke said, "I really don't think you should come with."
"Yukiko could be dying in there!" Chie yelled.
Souji looked at Chie's face that said I'll kill you if you don't and said, "We better let her come along."
"I'm coming this time, and there's no stopping me," Chie said.
"There's no convincing her otherwise, I guess," Yosuke told Souji as they entered the shop.
The old man running the shop greeted them and told them about the gear he sold and that if you brought new types of weird stuff, he can make new gear.
"What kinds of weird crap do we need to bring?" Souji thought, "So, if I bring you bubblegum, can you make a bubblegum sword?"
"Well, I bought what I wanted. You guys find what you want," Chie said. She made her transaction and walked out the door.
Souji bought the chain mail and a fake katana. He also bought chain mail and cheap kunai for Yosuke after he gave Souji some yen. "Find some good stuff for me," Yosuke said.
Before Souji could walk over to Junes with the group, a small detour occurred. They had decided to walk separately anyways. They also decided to hide their equipment in their school outfits. How Souji was fitting a katana in his uniform, he didn't know. But, as he waddled down the North Shopping District, a Blue Room opened up. It was a Velvet Room, which he opened with a Velvet Key. Souji thought, "Cheesy"
Margaret and Igor talked about the fact that the whole mystery and issues had occurred as they had planned and it now his problem. He had to deal with it. "Thanks a lot," Souji mumbled as he left the Velvet Room, "So much for a peaceful year."
They headed to Junes with Chie after draining their wallets. They saw Rion, who was indeed waiting for them at the Electronics Department.
"So, you're coming too?" Souji asked Rion. Rion had zipped up his blue and white striped sweater.
Rion pulled six inches of his fencing saber out to show him. "I'm not coming to play around, kids."
Souji thoughts said, "Great, all high and mighty again."
"How can you bring that along in public without attracting attention?" Yosuke asked. "I mean I know you were a fencing champion, but come on."
Rion shrugged, "It's not as out in the public as you think."
"Oh, so that's why he's so confident," Souji rolled his eyes.
They decided to head into the TV world. He saw the Teddie creature at the corner of the little plaza, stage, entrance, or whatever the hell Souji thought it was. Yosuke asked it what it was doing, and he said it was thinking. Yosuke told him it was worthless anyways. "You're just hollow," Yosuke said, "We've seen the inside of your head."
"Cruel, Yosuke," Souji said.
Chie ran towards the Teddie thing, and started berating the "thing" with questions, "Another person has been thrown in her right? Is she still here?"
"Wow. You must have a great nose! Yep, I felt her alright. I can try and lead you to where I think she is." Teddie said.
"Really? Cool," Yosuke said. Part of him was really worried about Yukiko. This wasn't a game to him anymore. Yosuke wasn't coming for glory. He was here to rescue Yukiko, and to catch a killer.
"Then… where is Yukiko?" Chie yelled at the bear.
Teddie ran behind Souji, "Hold on… I'll sniff her out, this Yukiko or whatever this girl is called,"
"….." Souji was as full of life as always.
Teddie was sniffing the air, obviously looking for something.
"Must be doing crack or something…," Souji chuckled as Chie punched him in the arm.
Suddenly, Teddie pointed in the direction of 3 o'clock. "She's there."
Before Chie had ran off like a madwoman towards where Yukiko was; the group asked if this is where the "show" was filmed.
"Show? What show?" Teddie responded.
They arrived at the castle that had appeared on the cheesy TV show. It was a large castle that had the swirling red and black symbol in the center. Chie looked chomping at the bit to run away and find Yukiko. Chie ended up running away from them to run after Yukiko.
"Wait, where are you going?" Yosuke yelled, "She should wait for us!"
"No, don't go…," Souji lazily said.
"Teddie, can you fix my glasses," handing him his reading glasses, "I need them to work like theirs," Rion asked.
Souji wondered how Rion figured it out Yosuke's and his glasses worked within minutes of being in the TV world the second time. Rion was too smart for his own good. Souji just rolled his eyes as Teddie worked on the glasses. Souji thought it might get him killed someday.
"Fo' sho," Teddie answered.
Rion was the first to run after Chie when his glasses were fixed, pulling his blade from his sheath. He ran into the castle at a sprinting speed, much faster than Chie did. Souji was surprised.
"He should catch her in no time," Souji thought.
"We need to run after Chie," Yosuke said, "Rion might be okay for a while, but we'll need to catch up to him too. He doesn't have a Persona even if he can see in there."
The two of them ran into the castle. Voices were heard in the castle as they entered, "So, I heard you'll be the youngest ever inn manager at the Amagi Inn."
"What is this?" Yosuke said.
"How would I know?" Souji said.
So, the two of them went through the first floor trying to find either Rion or Chie. They beat up Shadows that looked like the ones that attacked them near Saki's liquor store.
"Izanagi!" Souji yelled. Izanagi joined him at his side. With Izanagi beside him, he rushed those slimy tongue things. His "Zio" spell or whatever it was made the scary tongue things shiver in fright. Whenever Souji struck one, they rolled over like a shriveled earthworm.
"Jiraiya!" Yosuke exclaimed. The camouflage-ninja Persona would follow up with "Bash", or sometime he would finish them off with his kunai.
They also faced weird white fish Shadow things that tried to cast weird magic on them. Luckily, Souji and Yosuke dodged it, and had Jiraiya kill them with his "Garu".
"That was awesome!" Yosuke said.
"Right…," Souji looked at Yosuke as if he was crazy.
As they ran the gauntlet, Souji and Yosuke ran into many of the spherical tongues, or the fishes. Souji would find they could use not just magic with the Personas, but also physical attacks. Also, with the kunai and katana, the Personas could slam into the Shadows as well. Their all-out-attacks, were literal, all-out-attacks.
As they reached the end of the first floor, they saw the stairway, and something else.
"Sweet, the stairs," Yosuke said. "Thank god," Yosuke thought.
"Umm… There is something else there," Souji said pointing at Rion. "About time we found him," Souji reflected. Souji noticed something. There were a lot less enemies than he expected. Maybe it was because Rion and Chie were running through here first.
Teddie had followed them and was the one who were helping them analyze the Shadows. "It's Rion, and he's okay!" Teddie exclaimed, "He made it all the way here."
Rion had jammed his saber through one of those scaly white fish Shadows vertically and it seemed that the attack had broken the blade halfway off diagonally.
"Stupid shit," he exclaimed, "I thought it would last longer." He looked at the other two, "Hey guys. I'm glad you showed up… What's this?" He asked that as he started hearing a voice.
The voices of Yukiko started again, "Smart Rion… He helps me study, and helps me talk to guys. He's the only guy I'm really comfortable around. He always was the guy that watched over us, even Yosuke, and Chie. He gave us strength, and it must be hard for him to move."
"That voice…," Rion said. It was laced with concern.
"He's so trustworthy, anytime I was in trouble, we could count on him. Yet, why is he always there for me? I'm not worth it," the voice said.
"Aww… It was hard for you to move, huh was it?" The Shadow was mocking Yukiko's sayings.
Another Rion had appeared, he had yellow eyes instead of the brown ones he normally had. He looked quite harsh compared to the normal protective, smart Rion.
"It's a Shadow of Rion!" Yosuke exclaimed.
"So this is what Yosuke faced…," Rion muttered before thinking to himself, "If I lose control, I will be ineffective and unable to help in battle. Unfortunately, without a weapon, I'm still useless. But, if I can dispel it on my own, I can save our teammates strength. Of course, if I face my Shadow, I will be useful in battle again. A conundrum, indeed."
Souji looked at him, "Another one? I don't want to deal with one every time someone is indecisive."
Souji wanted to shake his head. "If even Rion has a Shadow," Souji thought.
"Is this what you said a shadow is? An opposite of me? It doesn't seem to be very realistic. A fool, and not very wise," Rion muttered.
"You really aren't very strong, are you? You're a failure at everything. You couldn't do what you wanted, so you ran away. You weren't smart enough, so you ran away. You couldn't protect people, so you ran away. You moved to a town where you thought you where it didn't matter. Guess what? You're still a failure! Don't delude yourself with false grandeur. You can't help her, and she's going to die because of your ineptitude!" The Shadow yelled.
"She's going to die, huh. Making quite an assumption on how we will fair. My opposition is guessing who we are before he sees us in action. I will protect others. Come on! You wouldn't stand a chance. Those who challenge just by sight are those who underestimate their opponents," Rion seemed far too confident.
"Just like you did, at your competitions only a short while ago," the Shadow laughed at Rion's loss of composure but Rion regained it quickly enough, "You failed at all of those because you underestimated your opponents. How can you protect Yukiko if you can not back up what you say?"
Rion looked down at the ground, "This Shadow is way too cocky for its own good. He'd be weak."
The Shadow started laughing; the shadow said to the student wearing the white and blue sweater, "So you reject me?"
"You are but a failure in the beliefs you carry in yourself!" Rion yelled at the shadow self.
"Here we go!" Souji yelled, "Idiot!" he thought about Rion, though he did have a point about his Shadow's judgments about them.
Souji and Yosuke charged forth as the Shadow laughed. Purple smoke emerged from the Shadow and knocked Rion over. The creature that emerged was a large white monster that was buff and had spikes on his legs. His arms were large muscular fists, and his head was blue with white eyes, which had a yellow tint. On each arm of the Shadow was a buckler shield. But, his head wasn't its usual place. The head was actually more towards the middle of the body.
The Shadow looked down upon the two of them, "I am a Shadow, The true self. I will make you all fail, right here and now."
"Let's cut this guy down to size," Yosuke said, "Let's go, Jiraiya." Jiraiya appeared in front of Yosuke as tried to slash it with his kunai. "Bash!" Jiraiya slammed into the Shadow shoulder first, and bounced off harmlessly. He had hit the right buckler. Yosuke's kunai also did next to no damage by hitting the left buckler.
"What the hell!?" Yosuke was confused as Jiraiya had been knocked backwards by the Shadow's shield.
"Izanagi!" came from Souji, "…." He was certainly annoyed at having to fight Rion's Shadow. If Rion was supposed to be unflappable, then why was he so vocal in this place? "Cleave!" The long blade was aiming straight for the head of Rion's Shadow, only to be parried by the right buckler.
"Damn it!" Souji yelled in frustration.
"I think physical attacks aren't working, Sensei!" Teddie yelled.
"You idiot, of course they aren't working!" Yosuke yelled.
"Do you not understand now? Your attempts to save her are futile," the Shadow said, "It's my turn now. Protect yourself!"
Rion's Shadow unleashed an attack, "Shield Destroyer." The right shield slammed into Souji, while the left shield went straight into Yosuke. Both of them went flying backwards as he advanced towards the pair. The Personas stood beside the pair to protect them, while Teddie was behind them.
"Try using magic!" Teddie exclaimed at them from far away. He wasn't going anywhere near the fight.
"Right!" Yosuke said.
"Go on, Jiraiya! Garu!" The wind attack amazingly swept up Rion's Shadow and threw it to the ground.
"Hurry up, Souji! My magic knocked it down!" Yosuke yelled.
"Izanagi!" "Zio!" The lightning made the shadow dizzy while it was lying on the ground.
Both attacks were effective against the Shadow.
"You need to take it down!" Teddie said.
"Let's go, Partner!" Yosuke said.
"Oh, what the hell!" Souji agreed to his request.
Souji, Yosuke, Izanagi, and Jiraiya came at the Shadow from all four directions and slammed into the Shadow. The Shadow tried to get up, but it staggered and collapsed to the ground again. Purple smoke covered it and it disappeared.
The Shadow returned to just a version of Rion with yellow eyes. The Shadow still had that weird growl that was a mix between a growl and a sigh.
"Rion, you need to accept him… He won't disappear otherwise," Yosuke yelled at the boy who had slowly gotten up after Souji and Yosuke had fried his shadow.
Rion had slowly gotten up. He stared down his shadow like before, but this with a less confident face.
"I'll still make mistakes. It wasn't easy for me to leave everything behind. I know I won't always be accepted. Yet, I can't always protect everyone," Rion told the shadow, "I can only let them stand on their own two feet."
The shadow nodded and disappeared. In its place above it appeared an old sage. It was clad in red robes with a staff that split in a Y at the top in his right arm. In his left arm was a buckler.
"This is, Tajikarawo…," Rion said, as he staggered. This surprised Souji. He wasn't as affected as much as Yosuke. It had to be the training.
Yosuke and Souji came to help him up. "Maybe he won't be such a smartass now," Souji thought. In the back of Souji's mind, he doubted his thoughts.
"You're tired," Teddie said, "You just faced your Shadow. You should be resting."
"I'm okay…," Rion said, "You guys should worry about Chie. I'll just stay with Teddie."
He walked behind with Teddie instead of staying in the front with Souji and Yosuke, but wasn't staggering around anymore. Teddie handed out the medicine to Souji and Yosuke to heal their "flesh wounds". They needed the medicine; Yosuke and Souji were both bleeding from the face. There was a cut over Souji's eyebrow, and there was a laceration on Yosuke's chin.
Afterwards, they walked up the stairs to the second floor. They went up the stairs and reached a door.
"There she is. Chie-chan is beyond this door," Teddie said.
The four of them opened the door and ran through it. They weren't sure what they find. They did find an expansive area that wasn't as restrictive as the places they had been running around so far. Standing around only a hundred feet from the entrance into the third floor was Chie. Teddie, Souji, and Yosuke were running towards her, while Rion was lagging behind a little.
"Chie, you alright… Chie!" Yosuke yelled at her, but she didn't respond.
"Earth to Chie… You awake?" Souji asked.
"She said that red looks good on me," the voice said.
"Yukiko-san?" Yosuke was startled.
Souji looked around, and realized no one else was around, "Yukiko?"
"This will end up the same as it did for me," Rion said.
This startled all four of them. They realized it was the castle's and Yukiko's Shadow doing.
"I hated my name… Yukiko… "Snow"… Snow is cold and it melts quickly. It's transient and worthless. To me though… It's perfect for someone inheriting the inn. I'm worthless. Yet, Chie still said that red looks good on me." The voice said.
"Is this, Yukiko's inner thoughts?" Yosuke asked, "Like with Saki-senpai."
"It would seem so. Her inward feelings are betraying what she shows us everyday," Souji remarked. Souji was contemplating that voices only meant one thing… a Shadow.
"This is very bad," Rion said. He was probably thinking the same thing Souji was.
Teddie told them, "The castle is probably here because of this "Yukiko" person too."
"Yukiko…," Chie finally said.
"Chie was the only one who gave my life meaning. She's bright and strong, and she can do anything… She has everything that I don't have. Compared to Chie…I'm…I'm… " Yukiko's voice said. Yukiko's voice got louder, "Chie protects me. She looks after my worthless life. I don't deserve any of it. Chie is so kind.
"Yukiko…I…I," Chie was saying softly.
"Chie is so kind, huh. What a joke," Another voice said. It was a Shadow's voice.
Chie, startled, said, "Wh…What!"
The shadow emerged from the fog looking menacing. It looked exactly like Chie. It looked exactly like Chie, except for one glaring difference. She had those ugly, nasty yellow eyes that both Rion and Yosuke's Shadow both had.
"Great…," Souji said.
"Oh man, is that?" Yosuke said.
"It's just like Yosuke and Rion!" Teddie exclaimed, "She lost control over her suppressed self! Now, it's a Shadow!"
"That's unfortunate," Rion thought and then said, "I can't believe that both of us have lost control."
"Yeah, you guys do suck," Souji thought. Souji said, "This is a big problem."
Chie's Shadow started laughing before saying, "Are we talking about THAT Yukiko? She says that I'm protecting her? She says that she's worthless," The Shadow continued laughing before saying, "That's how it should be, right?"
"What are you saying?" Chie asked her. She was completely taken off guard by these events. "What the hell is this?" She was thinking, "Is this like Yosuke?"
"Yukiko's so good looking, so fair-skinned, and so feminine. She's the one all the guys drool over. When Yukiko looked at me with such jealousy… Man, did I get a charge out of that. Yukiko knows the score. She can't do anything if I'm not around. I'm better than her. Much, much better!" Chie's Shadow went on and on.
Chie tried to defend herself, "No! I have never thought like that!"
"What are we going to do?" Yosuke asked. He looked very, very worried about Chie. For the second time today, there were two people, two Shadows to be concerned about.
"Well, we could wait till she blows up," Rion said, getting looks from the others, "Or we could try and stop her." "I think we're screwed either way," he thought.
"We need to protect Chie," Souji told them. They nodded.
Rion looked at them, "That is a wise choice, given the circumstances."
"We need to protect Chie-chan, right now!" Teddie called out.
When the others ran towards her to try and maybe prevent the inevitable, Chie looking distressed yelled out at them, "No… Don't come near me. Don't look at me!"
"You need to calm yourself," Souji told her.
"Calm down!" Yosuke yelled.
Chie yelled at them, "No… No, this isn't me."
Yosuke cried out, "Wait! Stupid… Don't say anything else like that."
"Oh…That's right. I'm the one that can't do anything alone. I can't win as a girl, let alone as a person. I am pathetic. But, Yukiko, she depends on me," the Shadow laughed,
"That's why she's my friend. I'll never loosen my grip on her. She's too important to me." The Shadow was mocking and laughing at Chie. She thought that Yukiko was just a tool for her to use.
Chie tried to fight back again as she turned around to face the Shadow, "No... That is not what I think of her."
"So you're just going to turn your back and deny me again? Things are different now. When the time comes… I'll be the only one left standing. You won't mind, okay? I'm still you, after all," Chie's Shadow mocked her. She started looking happy.
"Shut up! You're not…," Chie denied.
"Chie, no…" Yosuke tried his hardest.
"You're not me!" She yelled at the Shadow.
The Shadow began the endless chuckling as it began to transform. It looked like three girls on top of each other, but none of them really looked like Chie. They were gray and yellow and had long strands of hair. It had a long gray cloak and whips. If there was a word to explain the Shadow, you'd have to say dominatrix. Yosuke screamed for Chie, who had fallen, but there was a battle at hand for those who at capacity to fight.
Teddie yelled to Yosuke and Souji, "It's coming, you have to use your powers again to protect, Chie-chan!"
Yosuke and Souji rushed towards Chie to protect her from the three-bodied Shadow. They drew their kunai and katana to face the monster and took a deep breath to gather oxygen for the second tough fight of the day.
"I am a Shadow. The true self. What do you guys think you're doing? Trying to protect the real me? What a waste of time… You'll just have to pay the price!" The Shadow mocked the two of them. She cracked her whip and faced them down.
Yosuke was quite disturbed and yelled, "Shut up, dumbass. Chie, just hang in there a little longer…"
"You think it's that easy?" the Shadow said.
The battle began. "Izanagi!" "Zio!" Souji had set forth on attacking the Shadow with his Persona.
That attack wasn't really effective. So, Souji started using "Rakunda" on the Shadow. It made the Shadow weaker, and more susceptible to attacks.
"Jiraiya!" Yosuke exclaimed, "Garu!" The Shadow fell over with the wind attacks.
The pair, and the Personas were ready, "Let's do this!" Yosuke asked.
"Whenever you are, I guess," Souji agreed.
I don't think the Shadow liked swords and kunai being sliced through its skin or whatever it had covering its body. The Personas themselves slammed themselves into the Shadow. The Shadow didn't like it indeed.
Souji had inserted his katana sideways into the front of the first body, and slid it to the right. The kunai that Yosuke had been using had made marks all over the front of the face of the Shadow. Yes, Chie's Shadow was pissed.
"We've only just begun and you're already so deadly serious. How lame!" Chie's
Shadow mocked them as she got up.
Chie's shadow casted "Green Wall" to defend herself from the wind attacks that had weakened her so easily before. Chie began to gaze at Yosuke repeatedly and cast a multi-lightning attack known as "Mazio". It would knock Yosuke down, and Chie's Shadow would follow up by beating him with her whip.
Now, this pissed off Yosuke, "Dammit!" as Yosuke struggled to his feet.
"Rakukuja!" Souji yelled, having his Persona try and protect Yosuke while Yosuke tried to protect himself with his kunai.
After casting his defensive spell, he would match the Shadow's whip with his Persona's "Cleave". The Persona would spin his blade and strike it into a Shadow.
While the "Green Wall" dispelled, and Souji recast "Rakunda", Yosuke was still repeatedly knocked down by the "Mazio".
"I need some time to take her down with my wind!" Yosuke yelled.
"Just give me some more time!" Souji complained. Souji was getting worried. He didn't know if he could wait much longer as applied medicine to Yosuke.
The next time the lightning came towards Yosuke, it hit an old hermit in red robes instead.
"Tajikarawo!" "Tarunda!" a voice rang out. The Shadow got weaker again. The whip struck Souji and he was able to catch it on mid-stride.
"It seems lightning doesn't do much damage to me. I'd do some damage yourself now!" yelled Rion.
"I thought you couldn't fight?" Souji said. Souji looked at Rion's Persona and him standing there. Thinking on it, Souji kind of expected Rion to come and fight. "Figure him not to listen what the Shadow said."
"Don't complain," Yosuke said as he cast "Dia!" to heal himself
After casting "Garu!" and knocking the Shadow down with Jiraiya. He yelled, "Alright, one for all, and all for one!"
All three of them went flying into Chie's Shadow while the Personas followed. Rion had discarded his broken blade, and just punched it in the midsection with his fist and then backhanded it. An uppercut from Souji's katana followed by downward slashes by Yosuke's kunai had sent Chie's Shadow into purple flames.
"You okay?" Yosuke asked as he rushed to Chie's side. The other followed right behind.
She looked around, "What happened?"
"A Shadow…," was all Rion said.
The Shadow didn't say anything so Chie responded, "What's the matter? Got nothing to say anymore?"
"You have to respect it," Souji said, "Otherwise, we'll have to kill it again." His emotions were betraying him. He was really tired. The blood running down his forehead proved it; that plus the gash on his forearm. His diagnosis from the battle… whips hurt.
"Stop it Chie. It's all right." Yosuke said. He was worn out too, really worn out. There were bruises and burns from being shocked repeatedly.
"You are more than that thing, and we all different sides to us," Souji said. He was thinking, "For the love of god, please accept it."
Rion looked at her, "If we were all the same, it'd be very boring."
She tried to deny it, but Yosuke responded, "They're right, Rion and I went through the same thing. We understand. I mean, we all have sides like this."
Chie looked at her shadow, "I kinda get it now. You are me. A side of me I couldn't forgive… That I tried ignore… You still exist… You're a part of me."
The Shadow nodded and disappeared. Above it was a yellow, track-suit wearing martial artist, carrying a spear with blades on both ends. "Tomoe…"
"Well, it's true that part of me feels that way," Chie said, "I wasn't lying about being friends with Yukiko though."
"Like we didn't know," Yosuke said.
Chie promptly collapsed after that and the others rushed over to her side.
"Hey…Chie," Yosuke said, "Are you okay?"
"You, alright?" Souji asked.
"Well, that did make her a little tired," Rion said who was still staggering around a bit, "and I'm the idiot that decided to fight after facing my Shadow." Souji thought he looked a lot better off than Chie.
"Just a little tired," Chie said.
"You look like shit," Souji said, looking at both of them. He directed it more towards Chie really.
"Thanks," Chie said sarcastically.
"Yeah, you look terrible," Yosuke told her, "I bet you can use the same power as us now."
She looked at them funny.
"What should we do?" Yosuke asked, "We shouldn't keep going now? I mean, I'm really tired." While Chie was adamant against it.
"I can keep going, I don't need a break," Chie said.
Teddie ran in front of her, "Don't overdo it!" He had sensed Chie's tiredness, plus everyone else's.
Yosuke looked at her, "It's not that I don't think you can keep going. We just need to save our strength to save Yukiko-san. Now that you can fight with us, it'd be better if you are at full strength. That's why we should regroup."
"Otherwise, we'll get our asses handed to us," Souji said.
Chie complained, "She's still in there though! If this is how she feels, I need to tell her something."
"You'll get your chance," Rion said, but with a look of concern, "We probably both look and feel terrible." "Why aren't back, yet?" he asked himself.
"I'm not as strong as she thinks. It's only because she was with me. Only because we were together do I look like I am." Chie pleaded to the others. She was barely able to stand.
"If you get your strength back, you can tell her. Yuki-chan is normal. She won't be attacked until the fog lifts here," Teddie told her.
"So, Yukiko-san is safe until then?" Yosuke asked.
"Positive!" Teddie nodded.
"Why?" Chie asked.
"The weather is opposite of our own world, here. When the fog comes in our world, that's when it lifts here, and the person dies," Souji told her.
"That's why it was foggy when the last two people died. We have time before fog comes here," Rion said.
As they wanted to turn back, Chie vehemently tried to refuse still. She was still as stubborn as a rock even though they promised to check the weather forecast as soon as they got back. Chie was worried about Yukiko being alone.
"If we are the only ones that can help… We have to be smart in saving her," Rion said.
"If we get wiped out, who will save Yukiko-san then? We can't fail, no matter what, right?" Yosuke told Chie.
They finally got Chie to leave and the five of them walked out of the castle. Souji, for one, was happy to leave the foggy and red castle. Souji and Yosuke in front, Teddie in back, but not before Chie apologized to the group.
"I shouldn't have rushed ahead of the group in by myself. I'm sorry about before."
"No worries about that," Souji said, "We had to save Rion too, remember."
"No worries," Yosuke seconded. Souji rolled his eyes at Yosuke copying him.
When they got back to the plaza, Rion looked sick and so did Chie. The yellow plaza did have a high concentration of fog, so Souji had to admit that it was natural that they would feel bad since they just awakened to their Persona.
"This isn't the best I've felt," Rion said, "I need to rest." He shook his head and pushed up his glasses.
"I feel even worse than the last time I was here. My head feels like it's going to split open. Are you guys okay?" Chie said.
They commented on her not having the glasses.
"Yeah, what's with the glasses? Your eyesight turn as bad as Rion's?" Chie asked Yosuke and Souji.
"You didn't notice the fog?" Souji asked.
"Tum..De..Dum… I got a pair ready for Chie-chan too," Teddie exclaimed happily to the group, "Here you go!" handing them to Chie.
"Wha… the? I can really see through this fog now. It's like it's not there at all," Chie said happily as she put on her yellow glasses.
"Why didn't you whip those out earlier if you had them?" Yosuke asked.
"I made them right now. You didn't tell she was coming. It was all so sadden… I mean sudden," Teddie yelled back.
"Huh, so that's the trick you guys use," Chie said.
Rion nodded in agreement.
"He didn't make glasses for you," Souji explained, "He just fixed your glasses."
"Details…," Rion was back to his usual apathetic self.
"Can I keep these?" Chie asked.
"Fo' Sho!" Teddie said.
"I'll be back later with these, but don't come without me. Kay?"
"Nobody goes in alone, alright?" Yosuke said.
"Works for me…," Rion said.
"Let's save Yukiko!" Souji replied.
As they were in the circle, they brought up the fact that they wanted Souji to be the leader.
"Do you mind being the leader, Souji? You were the first to get this ability, and you're better at fighting than us. I'd play second banana," Yosuke asked.
He looked surprised at this request. "They want me to lead…"
"I don't know about fighting better than me…, but you can lead and set the pace of our investigation," Rion said.
Souji still believed he was really arrogant, but he was most likely rather good at fighting.
"Leave it to me, then," Souji sighed. "This is going be more than what I want to deal with," he thought, "I hope I can deal with Chie's temper, and Yosuke's ineptitude."
Chie looked happy with the situation, "I'm comfortable with this."
"Me too!" Teddie said before being yelled at by Chie because she was on edge. They decided to leave and go back home.
After they left the TV, but before they left, Souji stopped Rion to talk to him. "Hey, can you wait a minute? I have something to ask you about," Souji asked him.
"Sure, I guess," Rion said. He stopped right by the table Yosuke and Souji got arrested at.
"Umm… Why do you have a British accent?" Souji asked, "It just bothers me."
"I see," Rion said. He took a breath and told Souji, "I thought it might have been something serious. I was born in Britain and lived there for the first six and a half years of my life because my father was British."
"Oh, I see," Souji said, "So, you're only ½ Japanese, then. Well, what's this about a fencing champion?"
Rion shook his head, "I was on a junior national fencing team. We competed all over the country. My Shadow said I failed because I had to leave the team before we finished our championship."
"I understand, that's tough," Souji said. "That sucks," Souji responded, "Thanks for answering my questions."
"I understand why you would have an inquisitive nature towards me at the time," Rion said towards Souji.
"Okay, bye." Souji made his wishes. "Man, he really is freaky," Souji thought, "A British-Japanese with fencing, and probably a martial arts background if I'm guessing right."
Souji returned home and was ready to crash again fighting two more Shadows… except his stomach was growling. "Stupid stomach!" he thought, "You betrayed me! I want sleep!"
As they were eating dinner and watching news, Dojima looked at Souji and asked, "Mind if I ask something? You aren't getting involved in any strange business, are you? What happened at the station this afternoon. It's still bothering me. Is there anything you're not telling me?"
"Or course not…," Souji said. "I'm such a liar!" he thought to himself as he picked up a vegetable picked out from Junes with his chopsticks.
"I see," Dojima said, and went back to eating his take out, "It's just been nagging me. That's all."
Nanako looked at them, and asked with a sad face, "What's wrong? Are you two fighting?
Souji looked at Nanako. He felt bad lying to Nanako, but he definitely couldn't tell a seven year-old what's going on. She couldn't know that there is a TV world out there.
"No, we're not fighting," Dojima said to Nanako, and then to Souji, "I agreed to look after you, so don't go looking for any trouble."
After dinner, Souji went off to bed after dealing with all those other selves of his "teammates". Souji thankfully, had a dreamless sleep. He would need that after what happened today.