Chapter 3
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. One thing about the OC, he's Temperance.
There are at least a couple of reviews. So, I'll try to update as often as possible. The reason why I'm posting again so soon is because I have shells of chapters already waiting for me to just proofread and touch up.
I own nothing! Atlus and Atlus USA own my money, SMT, and Persona.
Souji was rather tired after taking care of both of Rion and Chie's shadows. "A real pain in the ass," he thought. After having being questioned and being told off again by Dojima, Souji was rather peeved. "Sure, we're not doing anything," he thought.
He was happy being able to finally going to sleep. He wasn't sure if he would bother going into the "TV world" tomorrow. Who knows? One or more of them might be "tired" or "sick". Even if they were, Chie would bug them into going. Souji wouldn't get a break, "Leader my ass," Souji shook his head.
He got up like he always did, and ate the same boring food that Nanako made him. He left early, and decided to go down the Samegawa to get to school on time. Souji was sure he'd hear more shit about Yukiko being missing. "Probably won't go away until we rescue her," Souji thought.
As he was walking up to the school, Rion caught up to him near the benches, past the riverbank.
"Are you recovered yet?" Souji asked Rion.
"I am feeling better than I was after the conclusion of our last visit," Rion said.
"I'll take that as a yes," Souji responded, "How are you going to fight outside of our Personas? Your sword was broken."
"I'll have an adequate replacement," Rion said. He pushed up his glasses, Souji thought he should get those tightened, "I will see you in class."
"That's good," Souji said, "And okay."
Rion ran ahead of him. He always was the first one of them in the class. Yosuke was rarely on time, according to Chie.
School was about as boring as possible. He got a question about which answer was a definite article. It seemed like a question that a 2 year-old could answer, but being a good student, he answered it. After school, as Souji was sitting at his desk, Chie came up to him.
"Hey Souji…," Chie said.
"Chie, what's on your mind?" Souji asked from his sitting position, straightening his papers.
"Umm… I just want to thank you for saving me yesterday," Chie said.
"Don't worry about it. We already told you that," Souji reminded her.
"Well, I just wanted to say it again," Chie said, "I mean it's kind of different saying it to you than Yosuke."
"Ohh… I don't have your phone number, in case we need to go in the TV. Can I have your number?" Souji said. He was rather confident in asking Chie for her number. Souji was always rather popular with girls, even in the city. "Pure as the driven snow my ass, Morooka," Souji thought.
Chie blushed when Souji asked, "Ohh… Umm, okay," she gave Souji her number.
They decided to head to Junes at least for a little while. They wanted Chie and Rion to get used to their powers. Well, Rion had used Tajikarawo pretty effectively in defending Yosuke, but Chie had not killed anything yet.
As they met at the table they had met at for the past few days, Yosuke noticed Rion was carrying a little metal stick with a small covering on one end that was about three feet long with two buttons on it. It had a circular hole on either end when the covering was unscrewed. He also had a large bag over his shoulder that Souji was sure contained something illegal.
"What the hell is that?" Yosuke asked, pointing at the thing with the holes.
He pressed one button, and part of a wooden stick of about three to four feet came out.
"Walking stick," Rion said, and then he pressed the other button and another three to four feet of wood came out of the other side, "Bo staff as well." He nodded, "It's my actual walking stick," as Souji noticed a slight limp from Rion he never observed before.
"Holy shit," Chie said, "It's just like a Kung-Fu movie." Chie was fascinated by the staff.
"I see," Souji said, "So, this is what he meant by better and durable equipment," he thought. He looked at the bag, "So, is the new sword more durable than the fencing blade?" Souji was interested in the new blade Rion had promised him.
"Yes…," Rion said, "It is a much more suitable blade for this world. A fencing saber just won't last long enough."
"Glad to see you both wizened up about this world," Yosuke said.
They talked a little about the situation of Yukiko, the weather, and then entered the TV world.
An interesting thing Souji noticed was that they each had their own way of summoning their Persona.
Souji just crushed the card in his hand after yelling out the name of his Persona. "Izanagi," or "Ukobach." He thought it was pretty cool. Everyone else seemed to think it was pretty cool that he could summon about six different Personas.
Yosuke would say something like "Let's go, Jiraiya," while slashing his card with kunai in a spinning motion.
Chie would hit her card by hitting with the card with her greaves, while saying something such as, "Protect me, Tomoe!"
"Backflip power!" Souji thought.
Rion was definitely the odd one in the bunch. He would spin his card into the air with his staff, keeping it floating long enough so he could slash it in half with his sword.
He would say all sorts of weird things. It had to be related to his Persona.
"We will make our stand!" That had to be his personal saying, Souji believed. But, "We will find their souls in Heaven!" had to be related to myth.
Souji was impressed at Rion's new weapons. "It's a better blade," Souji thought. Rion was wielding a ninjato, and he was wielding it with a vengeance. He almost felt sorry for the Shadows, almost, that was until he cut one in half with his katana.
When they had made it up to the second floor they encountered Yukiko's Shadow. The second floor was where they had met Chie's Shadow, but Yukiko's Shadow looked exactly like what they saw on the Midnight Channel. It was wearing that seductive dress again. It was screaming "nosebleed", but Souji stopped himself before he had to wipe his nose. It was a little confusing, considering all of the other Shadows they had seen so far just looked exactly like the person they were running into, to the letter.
Yosuke yelled, "Yukiko!" as they ran in.
Chie asked, "Yukiko… What's wrong?"
The Shadow responded by laughing at them, "Oh my, special guests. I wonder how they will play into this. Things are really beginning to heat up! Okie-dokie, I'm going back into my hunt for my Prince Charming. Ohhh, Where could he be? This place is huge! It makes it so exciting, but it makes it so hard to find him! Ohh… Maybe he's playing hide-and-seek in this fog. Ready or not… here I come! Let's go further in, shall we?"
A sign above them read, "Princess Yukiko's hunt for her Prince Charming!"
They looked around and Yosuke yelled, "What the hell is this?"
Rion exclaimed, "This is one messed up place."
"You aren't Yukiko? Who are you?" Chie asked.
The Shadow laughed, "What are you talking about? I'm Yukiko, and Yukiko is me."
"No… Don't tell me, are you? Where's the real Yukiko?" Chie asked worriedly.
Laughing voices rang out through the castle. It surprised everyone. "What is this?" Souji muttered, "More voices?"
Yosuke looked around, "What's with these voices?"
Souji listened, "I'm not sure…"
Teddie told them, "It's really making the Shadows mad!"
The Shadow told them, "Well, I'm off again! You'd better be waiting with bells on, my Dear Prince," With that, Shadow Yukiko ran off into the fog. She was giggling all the way into the fog. She seemed quite serious about finding her prince, and scoring with a hot stud.
"Yukiko," Souji thought, "Damn… she looks hot in that outfit."
Chie ran up a little, "Hey, wait! That wasn't the real Yukiko. It had to be."
Teddie looked at Chie, "It was the other part of Yukiko. Her suppressed feelings."
"So, just like Rion and Yosuke?" Souji said.
"Just like us, huh," Yosuke said.
"I don't think she was excited for nothing," Teddie said.
Rion looked at them with a shaken head, "There were a lot of suppressed emotions in there. It makes the emotions we were holding in feel like child's play. Hers are more concentrated."
"The real Yukiko wants to show us something, that's for sure. It seems like she has a strong connection to the castle. It's incredibly dangerous. More than we thought," Teddie explained.
"Yukiko!" Chie yelled, making like she was going to run after her again.
"Don't go running off again, Chie!" Souji yelled.
"Hey don't go running off alone. We told her not to," Yosuke said.
They decided they would need to go up a few more floors to try and find Yukiko. They'd try to go maybe at least up two to three more floors to be safe. Souji took a deep breath and headed up the stairs with the rest following.
There were a lot less of the Shadows they met in the 1st area of the castle. That was a little unfortunate. Souji and Yosuke were quite adept at killing those Shadows.
"Alright guys, let's go!" Souji said as they had encountered a Shadow that was shaped like a white hand. "Izanagi!" "Cleave!"
That attack wasn't the most effective, but the attack damaged it, regardless. But it didn't kill it. That would be a problem later on.
The hand casted "Agi" and it knocked over Chie.
"Chie!" Yosuke yelled. He ran over towards her to try and help her up. A second hand came out and hit him from the side. "Leave me alone!" "Jiraiya!" "Bash!"
Yosuke and Jiraiya were now distracted in dealing with the second hand Shadow, leaving Chie wide open.
"Guys…," Chie said worriedly, "It's coming." The Shadow was advancing towards her. It reared to cast another fire attack at her. When it fired, Chie closed her eyes, only to be intercepted by Souji, Izanagi, Tajikarawo, and Rion.
"Saving you seems to be the norm, here," Souji smiled.
"Fire isn't that painful," Rion said. Fire was a strong point for Tajikarawo, though it seemed he was weak to wind, ice, and darkness.
Souji offered her a hand, while Rion stood in front of them. The hand had tried to attack them, only to beaten off by a staff blow.
"Try to freeze it," Souji suggested.
"I don't know any ice skills," Chie responded hurriedly. Yosuke had finished off the other hand.
Souji sighed, "Apsaras! Bufu!" The hand fell over and Yosuke stabbed it with his kunai.
"Shadow kebob!" Yosuke yelled.
Souji rolled his eyes, "Very amusing."
They had only gone about 300 meters farther when they ran into another Shadow, a much stronger Shadow. It looked like it didn't belong there. It had multiple arms and was humanoid. It had a greenish coloring to it mainly. Yet, it started out casting "Maragi!"
That didn't bode well for Chie. The only one that wasn't really burned was Tajikarawo's partner, Rion. Rion was dragging Chie away from the magus as fast as he could, while the others were quick to follow. They were not ready to fight this Shadow.
The group ran down the stairs as fast as they could. They would find a short solace on the 2nd area.
"What about the Shadows on the 1st?" Teddie asked as they applied medicine on Chie.
"Leave them to Souji and I, while Yosuke helps Chie out," Rion explained.
"Front lines, huh?" Souji thought, "I probably should, since I'm the leader."
He said to the group, "Yeah, I'll fight through them."
It was a methodical fight through to the opening of the castle. They should have gotten another way to goho-m. Souji fought through his pain and cut through plenty of tongue monsters. Izanagi was his lifesaver. Finally, they reached the entrance.
Teddie who was happy to see them come along to help find Yuki-chan and maybe solve the mystery, was sad to see them go. He was also probably glad to come out alive.
Souji decided to go to bed early after getting home. He was tired after all. Souji was still tired from the day before. He had another dream in which he was playing tag with Rion. Souji had tagged Rion, and Rion leveled him. I guess that's what he gets for playing tag with Rion. He woke scared that he had a broken jaw, but quickly reassured himself and got ready for the rigors and boredom of the thing called school.
The next two days went pretty normally for him. Souji decided to join the Basketball club on Tuesday after hearing girls saying sports clubs were taking in new members. He met Kou Ichijo there. He looked normal, though he did like them balls. The club didn't have enough players, unfortunately, and he and Kou were the only two good players.
He seemed to be friends with the captain of the Soccer club. Daisuke Nagase. He was pretty disturbed by their obsession with balls, and how the girls were going after Kou.
The next day he hung out with Yosuke. He had helped him figure out the spelling of "millennium". "It was pretty obvious," Souji thought.
It was amusing to hang out with Yosuke at least. They had gone to a little side eatery on the Shopping District called Souzai Daigaku.
"I guess I'm a loser in this town because my dad is the manager of this district's Junes," Yosuke told him.
"Well, that's something that just sucks. You'll have to deal with it," Souji told him, "No, actually, it's too bad."
Yosuke chuckled, "Aren't you nice? But, thanks…"
They chatted about different things like the murders, Morooka, and headed off afterwards.
"Welcome home!" Nanako said as Souji returned.
"Hey…," Souji said, "At least she isn't singing that jingle," he thought as he watched her gazing aimlessly at a quiz show.
When he went upstairs, he dealt with his boredom by dealing with math problems, on two feet. He felt smarter. He decided that they would go to the TV world tomorrow and force the group to try and find Yukiko. "No more people on telephone poles!" Souji exclaimed, but he had to explain to Nanako why he was yelling when she woke up.
The ensuing school day was spent watching Hosoi and Sofue lecture. If it was possible, even Rion was starting to doze off. Souji was bewildered that Rion would let himself get tired during school. True to his word after school, he forced the group off to Junes. They were sitting at their regular table.
"So are we getting anywhere?" Rion asked.
"We're going to save Yukiko, today!" Chie exclaimed.
Rion rolled his eyes at her, "I'm sure there are many more floors than what we climbed. We don't know how far up she is."
"I think Rion is right," Yosuke told Chie, "We just need to be patient."
"We need to find her now!" Chie exclaimed. Souji put his hand on his head. She was going to get them killed. It wasn't going to rain that quickly.
Souji motioned them to quiet down and get ready to head into the world.
"Okay! Let's go!" Yosuke said.
Teddie was happy to see them enter the TV world and go into Yukiko's Castle. The yellow dank plaza and the drab castle, it made Souji wonder which was going to be worse. Souji decided that since that it was all filled with fog, that it didn't matter.
"Alright, let's not mess this up…," Souji said.
They encountered raven-like Shadows, at least they'd be ravens if ravens carried red lanterns and dove at people at near supersonic speed.
"What's with these things?" Yosuke said as Jiraiya's wind did only average damage. Yosuke was probably expecting to kill it, but Souji was thinking, "Bird = Wind means bird is still alive."
"Souji, just shock it," Rion had parried the bird with his staff. It had dove at him, and he swept the bird aside with by swinging the staff to the left diagonally upwards.
"Izanagi!" "Zio!" Souji exclaimed, and the Shadow hit the ground and died. "Nice," Souji nodded, as he proceeded to do the same to the other two. The group ran forward.
There were those hand Shadows again. Those stupid hand Shadows. They used Apsaras as a deterrent to kill them with ice until finally… Tomoe learned "Bufu" "Thank god!" Souji could almost yell.
"Tomoe! Bufu!" Chie exclaimed as one of the hand Shadows fell over.
"About time!" Yosuke yelled.
"Shut up!" Chie yelled back.
"Okay… calm down children," Rion said.
"Shut up!" Both of them yelled at Rion.
An annoying new Shadow was a pair of people… people-ish things strapped together by wires, spokes, well something… Souji decided.
"Zio!" Souji had yelled with Izanagi at his side. Nothing had happened. Souji was confused, "Umm… Well… Don't all die at once."
It only got worse for them. Chie cast "Bufu" with Tomoe and the same thing happened with her.
The same thing occurred with Jiraiya and Yosuke. The "Garu" spells were worthless.
The worst idea was when Rion struck it with his sword. When he did, not only did it not do damage, but it spun and knocked Rion over. "What the hell!?"
Then those things started attacking them, and Rion threw Tajikarawo into the front lines with himself to try and block attacks.
Teddie yelled, "There's only one element left!"
"Ukobach!" "Agi!" Souji yelled. It worked just as well as expected. Perfectly.
They fought enemies like this and continued to all the way up to the 5th area. It was tiring for them.
"How much longer?" Yosuke asked.
"Til we find Yukiko," Chie answered.
"Just a little longer," Souji tried to moderate between the two.
This 5th area… was a terrible place. The voices of Yukiko talking about the inn were getting crazier by every floor. Yukiko seemed to be taunting them, and asking them if they could find her. This floor decided to flip the group around whenever they got a certain point. Certain doors would be locked and then they would be flipped around soon after. Overall, the floor didn't like them, not at all. The Shadow was laughing at them.
"This whole thing is so damn stupid!" Yosuke said.
Chie yelled back, "Calm down, Yosuke!"
"This is a pain in the ass," Souji thought, yet he told them, "It'll be okay."
"Eventually, we'll figure it out," Rion said.
There were a few new Shadows as well, while they were being spun around they attacked. They didn't like being attacked in the back. It annoyed Souji for sure. He took out his frustrations on them.
There was a Shadow that was shaped like a pair of white dice. If you were too slow to kill it, they blew up. Souji found out the hard way.
"Damn it, damn it!" Souji yelled as he was thrown back, "This was my good shirt." He surveyed the damage on his clothes. He could never pop the collar on this shirt again.
"Any ideas, Souji?" Chie asked as she picked herself up off the ground.
"Umm…," Souji was thinking.
"Use ice…," Rion said simply as he whacked another pair of dice that had come up behind them. He seemed to have deduced the probability of its weakness.
"Help me Tomoe!" Chie exclaimed as the track star/martial artist came forward. "Bufu!"
Souji watched the dice get hit by ice, and watched the dice fall apart. Chie yelled, "Alright guys! Pile on!"
"I'm trying not to think bad thoughts," Souji muttered as he cut through the dice with his sword.
There was the weird midget Shadow. I guess you could say he looked like a king, with this weird wig.
"Hurry and kill it!" Teddie yelled.
"I'm trying!" Souji replied. "Zio!" It wasn't very effective. Neither was Yosuke's, or Chie's attacks. Rion's attack was even more worthless. "Swift Strike" officially sucks against this king, or whatever it was.
Since they didn't kill it, it waved its wand, or whatever was in its hand. What came out next was just odd, a plant creature that liked to run into Yosuke. When it ran into Yosuke, it knocked Yosuke over.
"Dammit!" Yosuke shouted, "That hurts." He clutched his scraped hand.
"I'll try again," Souji said, "Izanagi! Use Zio on the plant!" The plant shriveled at the attack.
"Now, what to do about the king?" Souji wondered at the fact he lost his subject.
Rion yelled at him, "He's about to summon another one! Try fire!"
"Is it that obvious?" Souji thought for only a second, "Ukobach!" "Agi!"
The king creature fell over and the rest of them prepared to attack. "Are you ready to dance with death?" Rion asked.
Souji was ready to dance, and watched Chie kick the Shadow repeatedly, while Rion cut the Shadow to pieces.
The only other kind of new Shadow was a table Shadow that had forks and knives spinning around it.
"Are we eating dinner in the castle?" Souji asked himself.
Only wind worked on this thing, and Yosuke made quick work of the thing.
Eventually, the group went around the corners by turning backwards to find a room that wasn't locked.
"Finally," Souji said with a sigh of relief that they were stuck in here forever.
"I sense someone behind this door," Teddie said as they were about to enter, "It's that girl's scent."
"I'm ready," Rion said.
"Let's do this!" Chie said, "Let's save Yukiko!"
Yosuke looked determined, "No one is going to stop us."
They walked in to see Yukiko's Shadow, surrounded in purple flames, and standing next to a large knight on horseback. The real Yukiko was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's the real Yukiko?" Rion said.
The Shadow laughed at Rion's question, "My prince won't lose to guards such as this, correct?"
Teddie looked rather scared, "I've never seen a Shadow this strong before! It's attacking us!"
The four of them flanked the Avenger Knight! "Izanagi!" "Jiraiya!" "Tajikarawo!" "Tomoe!"
Rion quickly used "Tarunda" with Tajikarawo to lower the power of the knight.
It was soon discovered by the others attacking the knight that physical attacks were ineffective. Souji had even attacked him even after having his attack raised by "Tarukaja" performed by Chie. Souji had blazed by the outreached lance of the knight and hit the knight in the head with his sword.
"Rion… You're going to be in trouble," Souji told him.
"I know. I know," Rion muttered, "Tajikarawo!" "Swift Strike!" The attack barely damaged the knight, but he still charged the Shadow. When the Shadow swung his lance sideways trying to hit him, Rion ducked under, and struck at the horse with his ninjato.
The knight definitely had its own tricks, including a "Skewer" technique rivaling Chie's own, and a "Poison Skewer" that was even more deadly. The first time the "Skewer" of the knight had hit Yosuke, he was knocked down.
"Yosuke!" Chie yelled in concern.
"I'm okay, Chie," Yosuke said as he got up.
"Bufu!" "Zio!" and "Garu!" rang out from the Personas as the group was ineffective from physical standpoint.
"Don't bother using yourselves to reduce or charging your skills," Rion told them, "Leave that to me. You need to save your strength for spells."
"Rion was right", Souji thought as Rion cast "Rakunda" on the Shadow. All the spells they were casting started making Souji unfocused.
The Shadow aimed a "Skewer" at Chie, and Chie dodged it by rolling to her right. She wiped sweat off her brow and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness," she said.
It aimed another "Skewer" at Yosuke, and Yosuke slid under the attack, barely.
"Yosuke!" Chie shouted, "You dodged it!"
"I know…," Yosuke breathed heavily, "I'm okay."
When it aimed for Souji, Souji jumped to his left. The lance caught on his jacket and ripped it off. "First it burns my collar, now it cuts my jacket!" Souji yells, "Now I'm pissed!"
Souji continued to cast "Zio" with Izanagi. While Yosuke followed up with "Garu". Chie was closely behind with "Bufu".
As the knight began to weaken, "Poison Skewer" was aimed at Rion. Rion wasn't going to disappoint the chain of misses by the knight. Rion jumped on top of the lance.
"Good job, Rion-san!" Teddie yelled.
Rion ran over the lance to hit the top of the knight, not only with the staff and then the sword. It was weakened enough for the head of the knight to fall over even with the ineffectiveness of physical attacks.
"Damn, that was insane," Souji thought as he saw the head roll.
"Awesome!" Chie told Rion.
Yosuke said, "I'm just glad it's over."
Rion didn't say anything, but he was breathing pretty heavily. He had to take most of the attacks, and was healed by Jiraiya's "Dia" after the battle. They had obtained a "Glass Key," after defeating this tough battle.
After the fight, Yukiko's Shadow had a few words for them. She was laughing, "If you really are my Prince, then we will surely meet again. I am but a trapped soul… I cannot leave this place even if I wished." She laughed again.
Teddie said, "I don't sense her anymore. Are you okay, Sensei? I'm sure we've got a long way to go. Don't push yourself too hard! If you're too tired, don't be afraid to head back."
They were all tired. Souji was tired. Yosuke was tired. Chie was tired. Even Rion was tired. That meant one thing; they needed to leave the castle, no matter what Chie would say.
"It's time to leave for today," Souji told them.
"Really?" Chie asked, "If she was right there, I'm sure she's not that far away."
"We're not in a condition to fight, Chie," Souji said.
They did decide to go back for a day after Yosuke dragged her out, not literally of course.
"Bye, guys!" Teddie said as they left…
When they returned from the TV, they sat down in their chairs and got some food.
"Man, this was tough," Yosuke said.
"It could have been worse. We could have died," Rion said.
"That's true," Chie said, "It's always cheery in here," she thought.
"Let's go guys," Souji said.
They headed out and Souji got his usual greeting at the door from Nanako. Looking at the quaint kitchen, the small living room with the small futon, the option going upstairs to his small bedroom seemed refreshing.
The school day was another quick day in his mind. Another dreary day, well it was clear of rain. Somehow, listening to Mooroka yell at people just made it boring and dreary. He asked Rion, who was standing by the calligraphy room, to go into the TV.
"You want to go?" he asked Souji, who nodded. He responded, "Okay, I'll call them up."
This trip was going to be a determined effort to find Yukiko. They had stocked up on medicine, and other materials to protect them from death. This time, they would find her. If the Shadows didn't kill them this day, Chie would.
They met in the usual place. They nodded when they got there. It was time to go. The less time they wasted the better.
They stopped Teddie from bugging them rather quickly. Souji just picked him like a backpack and dragged him to the castle. Hollow Teddie bears are supposed to be light anyways.
Back in the castle, they faced the monster that scared them out of the castle a few days ago. The scary mage with tentacle arms attacked them. There were three of them and immediately flames blazed through the castle. It wasn't cast by the mages, however.
"Senri!" "Maragi!" Souji had called out. He didn't want Chie to be blasted by fire again. It was amazing how well the magic worked on the Shadows. He used it again to destroy them, and again whenever they spotted those mages.
As they were turning the corner, they saw these little crosses with a blue dial and red dial on each side.
"What are these weak things?" Yosuke asked.
It shut him up when it started casting "Bufu" at Yosuke.
"What the hell?" Yosuke wondered as he shook the icicles from his arm, "Rion, move away from the Shadow." "Jiraiya!" "Garu!" That was a very bad idea. The wind flew away from the dials and back at Yosuke.
Souji shook his head, "Alright, alright… magic sucks against them. Nata Taishi!" "Sonic Punch!" It destroyed one of the Shadows.
"Okay, here we go," Chie said, "Tomoe! Skewer!" That strike took out another Shadow.
Rion sighed, "Torrent Shot!" as Tajikarawo's staff pointed towards the Shadow and fired into the cross.
But, by beating those crosses, they made so much noise that they attracted beetles. These beetle Shadows were strong and they wasted no time attacking Souji. The beetle's attack knocked over Souji.
"Rion, take it down!" Souji commanded, as Yosuke helped him up.
"I don't think this is a good idea…," Rion muttered as he charged it. It wasn't as his sword bounced off, and the beetle struck him instead. He ended up on the ground, "I told you this wasn't a good idea."
Chie commanded her Persona after seeing Rion on the ground, "Tomoe!" "Mabufu!" This knocked the beetles over and incapacitated them.
Souji, Chie, and Yosuke were the ones who charged the Shadows as they lay there.
Souji wiped sweat off his brow as they encountered more and more of these Shadows as they climbed up the 7th area. They were trying to get to the 8th, and Souji really wanted to save Yukiko. Though he knew he had time, he wanted to get this over with. But, if there was much longer to go, they'd have to go back again. He shook his arms, trying to break up the lactic acid that was building in his arms. Rion would probably tell him something like that was pointless, but Souji didn't care.
They saw the stairwell to the 8th area. Except there was another knight Shadow that looked similar to the one they had killed yesterday.
"Not again," Yosuke lamented.
"I don't think it's the same," Souji said. He proved his point by summoning Angel and casting "Garu". It barely made a dent on the knight.
"So, it is the same kind of thing," Chie said as the knight tried to "Skewer" her. She was guarded by Rion's Persona.
"Let's try something else," Souji said. He wanted to prove it was not quite the same Shadow. He brought his Persona in bondage towards him and whispered the attack it was to use in her ear. As the Shadow's lance came towards him, white light engulfed it, and it disappeared. "Hama…"
"Nice…," Rion said, readjusting his glasses. He had taken out a cross Shadow enemy in the meantime with his sword.
As the walked up the stairs after some healing by Souji's Archangel, and Yosuke's Jiraiya, they reached the 8th floor. It seemed to be the floor that Yukiko was being held at. It would be where all the hard work paid off, if they can get through this last floor.
"If we can do this, it should make it so much easier," Souji thought.
"Here we go guys!" Yosuke said.
"Finally, we get to save Yukiko!" Chie exclaimed.
"……" Souji wasn't very excited at having to face Yukiko's Shadow however, "I hope we don't screw up," he thought.
"I guess we will have to succeed," Rion muttered.
As they were ready to open the door, Teddie said, "This smell is… It must be her! She is right behind here!"
They confronted the Shadow. Yukiko, in her kimono, was kneeling below the Shadow. The Shadow was in front of a gilded throne, she was looking for a prince after all. But, was the Shadow a princess, or just some phony? She looked like a princess in Souji's eyes.
"Yukiko!" Chie yelled towards her.
"I knew it! There is two of her," Yosuke said.
"That seems to be the case. Suppression of the psyche has caused a rift in Yukiko and it has caused a split between the two," Rion said.
"Thanks for the explanation, but I doubt anyone beside you will understand it," Souji told Rion.
The shadow looked at them, "Ooh… What's this? Four princes are here to see me! My, my! Are you the surprise guests who came in late? Aww… I wished I'd gotten a better look at you. My, it's getting crowded in here. Why don't you and I go somewhere else? A land far, far away, where no one knows me. If you're my Prince, you'd take me there, won't you? Pretty, please?"
Souji looked at her wide-eyed, "This is crazy. Maybe, if this was a regular girl… but this is a Shadow… I must avert my eyes."
"Is this scoring a hot stud?" Teddie asked. He got hit on the head by Teddie.
"Four Princes? Does that include me?" Chie asked. Chie looked rather confused.
"Nuh uh, the fourth one has to be me!" Teddie rebuked her.
Yosuke responded, "I seriously doubt that. She doesn't even know you."
Yukiko's shadow laughed, "Chie… Yes, she's my prince. She always leads the way. Chie's a strong prince. Well, at least she was," The anger in her voice was evident.
"Was…?" Chie looked hurt.
Shadow Yukiko yelled, "When it comes down to it. Chie is just not good enough! She can't take me away from here. She can't save me!"
"Yukiko…," Chie said…looking hurt.
"Stop…," the real Yukiko said, getting up slowly. She seemed to have regained some vitality and fight.
"Yukiko!" Yosuke yelled.
The Shadow looked at Rion pointing, "Will the cute boy over there save me? The one who always helps me?"
"This question has nothing to do with me," Rion said, "It relies only on your feelings. You can only rely on yourself. I know this has to do your inner thoughts, and only if you accept your reality can you realize your issues."
"It has everything to do with you. You never tried to help me! You only took care of the outside me, the Yukiko who wanted help with training, and work. You could never save me, a failure!" The Shadow yelled at him.
"Don't judge him…," Yukiko tried to defend Rion.
"What about our little innocent boy here?" the Shadow pointed at Yosuke, "Maybe he thinks if he tags along enough I'll give him a bone?"
"Damn…," Yosuke thought, "That's harsh. Okay, she doesn't like me that way."
The Shadow mocked her, "Historic Inn? Manager Training? I'm sick of all of these things chaining me down! I never asked to be born here! Everything is decided for me! From how I live! To where I fucking die! I'm so sick of it, to hell with it all!"
"We know it's the Shadow," Rion muttered, "Only in her thoughts does she cuss like this."
Yukiko tried to fight it back, "That's not true…"
The Shadow merrily said, "I just want to go somewhere far away. Anywhere, but here. Someone take me away, I can't leave on my own. I'm completely useless."
The Shadow continued to mock her, "I have no hope if I stay, and no courage to leave. So I sit on my ass hoping that someday my Prince will come. I don't care where we go! Anywhere is fine! As long as it isn't here. I don't give a damn. Historical Tradition! Pride of the Town! What a piece of shit!"
"How dare you?" Yukiko told the Shadow.
"That's how I really feel!" the Shadow said, "Isn't that right? Me!"
"No!" Yukiko yelled.
"Stop!" Souji commanded.
"Don't say it!" Yosuke demanded.
"No, you're not me!" Yukiko yelled.
"Oh dear!" Rion said as he uncapped his staff.
The Shadow began to laugh as she began to change. "This feels wonderful. It's building, more and more. If this keeps up… I'll… I'll…"
The Shadow changed into a creature much different than any of the other Shadows faced before, even different than Rion's, Yosuke's, or Chie's. It was a caged red bird, encased in an open chandelier. It had a white heart birthmark in the center of the bird. It rocked back and forth
The normal Yukiko yelled out in shock. Souji was worried. This was a lot more worrisome than any of the other fights. It'd probably be harder than any of their other fights.
"Yukiko!" Chie yelled out.
"We have to stop it! That girl is in danger!" Teddie said.
"Duh!" Souji said.
"We know…," Yosuke said.
Rion said, "The time is now."
Chie yelled at her, "It's okay, Yukiko. Just hang in there, we'll save you!"
The fight had begun to save Yukiko.
"I am a Shadow. The true self," the Shadow said and laughed as she said, "Now my prince, why don't we dance and make merry together."
"Hang in there, Yukiko! I'm right here for you!" Chie yelled.
The Shadow retorted, "Oh really? Then I'll give you plenty to deal with!"
"This one is really tough!" Teddie said.
Yukiko started by summoning the Charming Prince "Come my Prince!", A small Shadow with blond hair and a small sword appeared at the side of Yukiko's Shadow.
"Guys, we need to take that thing out. Chie, blast that thing!" Rion said.
"Senri!" "Tajikarawo!" "Jiraiya!" "Tomoe!" The four yelled.
"You need to protect Chie from fire!" Rion yelled.
Senri had fused the ability and gained "Red Wall" and it was cast on Chie.
It was a good thing too. As soon as "Red Wall" was cast, Yukiko's Shadow cast "Agi" on Chie. Instead of being knocked over like she expected, she was only burned moderately.
The Prince started to attack Rion, his small sword flashing quickly. The sword flashed quickly, only to be intercepted by Rion's own sword. When he pushed the Prince's sword to the side, he used his shoulder to shove the Prince away.
Meanwhile, Yukiko's Shadow was still busy. She used "Double Fangs" on Souji, which knocked him over.
Yosuke proceeded to help Souji up, and cast "Dia!" with Jiraiya.
"Thanks," Souji nodded.
"No problem," Yosuke said, "Rush the prince." Jiraiya proceeded to charge the Prince, fists forward.
"Tomoe!'' "Bufu!" Chie was sick of the Prince's ugly face, and the Prince was knocked over by the shards of ice that had lodged in its legs and arms.
"Let's go, partner!" Yosuke told him, trying to commit him to a charge.
Souji nodded in agreement with Yosuke. Chie started first, and kicked the Prince high in the face with her right leg. She followed up with a roundhouse with her left. Yosuke hit the prince with his right kunai and then spun around and diagonally to hit him again. Rion had sheathed his sword and instead just hit the prince over the head with his staff. Souji just came in and stabbed it straight in the gut, and then dislodged it by shaking it off.
As the Prince struggled to get up, it cast "White Wall" on itself.
"Chie, your Bufu skills aren't going to work," Souji responded.
"Well… then," Chie wasn't sure. She turned her "Bufu" towards Yukiko's Shadow who returned the favor with "Double Fangs".
After Yukiko's Shadow's attack on Chie, she turned her attention on her Prince. She had prepped herself for a healing spell. All of their hard work to kill that Shadow would be erased.
"Guys…," Souji warned.
Before the words left his mouth the Prince was disappearing in purple flames. Tajikarawo had his staff extended. "Swift Strike…," Rion had muttered.
Yukiko's Shadow tried to re-summon the Shadow. It didn't appear again, "My prince, my dear prince! Why, why won't it come?"
This obviously made her very, very angry. Yukiko's Shadow would make them regret killing her prince.
"She looks angry," Teddie remarked.
"Thanks for stating the obvious," Souji said, as Yukiko's Shadow came down with her "Double Fangs" at him.
"Rakunda!" Rion commanded, as he weakened Yukiko's defense. His sword was worthless now. He could jump high, but not that high. His staff was his only way to strike his opponent.
Yukiko's Shadow had one other nasty attack that she decided to just release right now. "Burn to Ashes" was an attack that hit everyone with a swath of flames. Two words… Poor Chie.
"Red Wall" had long since dissipated, and Chie was lying on the floor. Souji and Yosuke weren't in much better condition, but they were at least still standing. His Personas reflected their owners' status. That meant Rion was the least burnt out of all of them.
Yukiko's Shadow tried to finish off Chie with another "Agi", but Rion got in the way of the Shadow's attack.
"Sorry… you can't take us out," Rion said with a grimace.
Souji staggered up. He switched Personas, "Archangel!" "Media!" That helped the healing process for the four, so they could continue. If they didn't heal, they wouldn't last.
Souji switched back to Senri and recast "Red Wall" to give Chie a fighting chance.
So, it became a repetitive battle of using "Bufu", katana, kunai, and "Rakunda", against "Burn to Ashes. Then it would consist of "Media", "Red Wall", and more "Rakunda". Then it would continue over and over. Who would keel over first?
The Shadow answered that question as she disappeared into purple flames, screaming all the while.
"Yukiko! Yukiko, are you hurt?" Chie asked.
"I'm not hurt," Yukiko said as she turned towards her shadow. She was clutching her right arm for support.
"We understand, you're not the only one like that, Yukiko-san. Everyone has something they can't show other people, or they don't want to admit to the world," Yosuke said.
"It isn't easy to admit to the world that we are not just black and white, but that we have many shades of grey," Rion told her. He shook his head, and fingered a burned hole in his sweater.
Chie hung her head, "Yukiko, I'm sorry. I was so self-centered, I never understood what you were going through. I'm your friend, but I never understood what you were going through."
"Chie…," Yukiko said slowly.
"I was always jealous of you, Yukiko. You had everything I didn't. That jealousy was like a wall, and I was so lonely. I wanted you to need me, but it I who needed you. I can't do anything right on my own. I've caused so much trouble for Yosuke and the others. If you weren't here, I wouldn't know what to do," Chie was literally crying into Yukiko's arms as she had walked over to her.
"Chie… I never saw the real you, either. I was too busy trying to find an easy way out." She looked at Chie and comforted her. She walked over and faced her Shadow, "I want to run away, I want someone to save me. You're right, those feelings are a part of me, too. I understand now, you are me."
The shadow disappeared and in its place appeared a Persona of pink beauty. "Konohana Sakuya". She fell and the others rushed to her side.
"The mother of Japan…," Rion said softly.
"Yukiko!" Chie ran to her side exactly at the moment she fell.
"I'm okay, I'm just a little tired. You all came for me," Yukiko said.
"Yeah… We have too much time on our hands. Just kidding," Rion said. He was smiling for a change.
"Of course," Chie said.
She muttered thanks and Chie said not to mention it. She was rubbing tears from her eyes.
"Right on!" Yosuke said.
"Who knows what she would have done if you weren't there?" Souji said.
"So, who threw you in here?" Teddie asked.
She looked surprised at Teddie's presence and asked, "Who are you and what are you?"
"I'm Teddie, so you threw you in?"
"I don't know… I think someone called my name. My memory is a blur, so I can't remember who it was. Sorry, umm… Teddie," Yukiko responded.
"Now we know, someone did throw her in," Yosuke said.
"Someone threw her in, and called her name," Souji shrugged. "We don't know that much," He thought.
"Then it isn't you guys!" Teddie exclaimed.
"You mean you still suspected us!" Yosuke said.
"No… No… Absolutely not," Teddie said.
"He's lying," Rion said definitively.
"You're such a bad liar," Souji said. "So much for being my friend," Souji thought, "Oh well, someone has to protect him."
"Let's just hurry back, Yukiko is tired," Chie said as Yukiko dipped her head and needed help to keep standing.
As Yukiko was supported by Chie and they started to walk away, Teddie asked worriedly, "Wait, you're leaving me here!?"
"You do live here," Souji said.
"What do you want us to do?" Rion said.
"But…," Teddie said anxiously.
Yukiko comforted him, "We'll be back. I promise to come back. Be a good boy and wait until then." She rubbed the top of his head.
Teddie purred, "My, it's getting crowded in here, why don't you and I go somewhere else? Pretty, please?" He quoted the Shadow, word for word. It didn't have a favorable response.
"He's just getting worse and worse," Souji muttered.
Yosuke looked disgusted, "You're giving me the creeps. You're stuck in here for the rest of your life."
After leaving the world, they stopped not at the typical table, but instead at a larger covered table in Junes. Yukiko was the only one sitting there. The rest were standing around, making sure she was alright.
"Yukiko, are you alright?" Chie said, "You're not hurt anywhere?" She still looked really worried, even though they rescued her.
"Just tired…," she responded.
"How did you get in there?" Souji asked.
"I just don't remember anything," Yukiko said.
"That's okay," Rion said, "If you don't remember anything we will figure it out eventually."
Yosuke said worriedly," Well, Yukiko was attacked just like the other two. The one on the Midnight Channel was her Shadow, not the real one."
"Teddie was saying something like that," Chie said.
"Who would be doing this?" Yosuke asked.
"A deranged person," Souji said.
"Pretty much," Rion said.
"Let's call it a day, guys." Souji said.
"Yeah, she needs her rest," Yosuke agreed.
"Good idea!" Chie said, "I'll take Yukiko home. I want to make sure she gets home safely."
He was stopped by Yosuke before he left. All of the others were already gone. This kind of annoyed him. He wanted to get some rest.
"Yeah, what is it?" Souji asked.
"We'll have to ask Yukiko when she gets her strength back," Yosuke said, "But, we don't know how much she really knows."
"I don't think she remembers much of anything," Souji replied.
"We'll just have to keep searching for the killer," Yosuke shrugged.
Souji nodded, "The bear will be happy to hear that."
Souji and Yosuke walked away after sharing goodbyes. Souji was more that happy to leave.
Souji really would be enjoying being able to sleep tonight, because he was really exhausted. He would finally be able to relax, and not worry about running into the TV all the time. He didn't like trying to whack knights, mages, or weird bird things. All Souji knew was, he was going to have one hell of a nightmare tonight when he would be able to sleep.
When he did get home, he was sitting around with Nanako… He was waiting for his instant food to be ready so he could eat and go to bed when he heard the door open. "It must be Dojima…," Souji thought.
"He's home!" Nanako sounded elated and got up to greet her father.
Instead, when Souji turned his head, he saw that Adachi was with Dojima. That fact had confused Nanako it seemed.
"Um… hello," Nanako asked the strange man, Adachi.
"Hi there," Adachi responded.
Dojima filled the void, and the awkwardness, "We got off at the same time, so I'm giving him a ride back to his place. And I thought we might as well swing by."
"This must be really confusing for a seven year-old," Souji thought, "I don't think she knows what a gofer is."
Adachi explained, "Nice to meet ya. I'm Adachi, the guy who's been your dad's slave since spring."
Doijma turned to Adachi and gave him a look, "I can still work you harder, ya know."
"Haha, good one, Sir! Ha… ha…," Adachi looked at Dojima, and realized his superior wasn't joking. Adachi then turned towards Souji, "Oh, I almost forgot! You're friends with Yukiko Amagi, right?"
"Yes," Souji said. Souji tried his best to sound as inconspicuous as possible.
"They found her safe and sound. Tell all your friends at school," Adachi said happily.
"That's a relief," Souji tried to keep up his act. How would you explain that we saved Yukiko by jumping in a TV and killing a big bird monster that told her she hated working at the Inn?
"Yeah, for us on the force too," Adachi replied, "But this doesn't mean the case is closed yet, though. We were just questioning Ms. Amagi, but she says she doesn't remember anything that happened while she was missing."
"Really? That's odd," Souji said.
"We can't figure out her whereabouts during the missing period either. It's like she really disappeared," Adachi sighed.
"You have no idea how really true that is," Souji thought.
"It's all pretty fishy, if you ask me. Like there's something else going on," Adachi said.
At this point, Dojima hit Adachi over the head in frustration. Adachi recoiled in pain. "Stop blabbering, dumbass!" Dojima ordered. Souji chuckled on the inside.
"Sorry," Adachi looked at the ground.
Dojima looked at Souji, "Ignore him… He's just spouting some wild fantasy."
"Are you doubting Yukiko?" Souji asked.
"Don't worry…," Dojima replied, "The police aren't people who are going to believe everything they hear." Dojima nodded at Adachi, "He's just muttering to himself. Don't listen to him."
At that moment, Nanako said from her sitting position, "I'm hungry. Is this food almost ready?"
"It should be…," Souji said.
"Hey, you're right. My stomach is growling too," Dojima responded to his daughter. He catered to his daughter when he was home.
Adachi looked at Dojima, "Ahaha… So you do have a softer side around Nanako-chan, Sir."
He yelled at Adachi, "Shut up and wash those hands before you sit down." He smiled, "I should do the same."
"At least dinner won't be too boring," Souji thought, "And maybe Nanako won't think we're fighting today."
When Souji got to sleep, it wasn't too bad after all. It wasn't as much of a nightmare, but more of a triumphant victory over evil. Not too bad at all.