Barely finished the chapter to get it to you guys today. You won't believe how crazy the semester has been for me and will be in the future. It's taking a lot out of me to stay on top of my assignments and by the time I'm done with them I'm seriously burnt out. Make sure you guys read to the end because we're going to check on Teddie. Review time!
Matt- As I had explained in last week's chapter, I did not post a chapter two weeks ago because I was visiting my family after not seeing them for three months and it's the only time that I can visit them during the school year. I was spending time with them so I had no time to work on a chapter. Please read my author notes next time because I do explain these things.
BahamutX978- Don't worry more relaxing chapters are coming after they deal with 96. And yes I'm not using Golden for this fic. The ending is very hard to figure out and I did not want to get facts wrong with it. And thanks for the deck ideas, I should be able to announce who has what soon.
Chie shielded Kotori as another stray attack zoomed past them. The last thing she was expecting here was fog and Shadows. Several snake like Shadows had started charging at them forcing her to summon Tomoe in a hurry. There were several close calls as the narrow hallway provided little room to dodge stray attack but thankfully Kotori's elbow had hit a switch which opened a small alcove in the wall allowing them to take cover. Tomoe had even formed an ice wall to protect them but that was crumbling quickly.
Kotori on the other had looked like she was going into hysterics. The sight of the Shadows had scared the girl and the sight of Chie wincing every time Tomoe took as hit was not helping matters. "Chie...are you alright?"
"Peachy…" Chie winced once again, "We just have to stay calm…..Tomoe will handle them."
"But you're hurting!"
"Just a side effect of Persona…."Chie explained, "They are part of ourselves so whatever they feel…we feel."
Kotori wasn't calmed at all. It just made her nerves worse. She now knew that Yuma was involved in their business and couldn't help that he was getting hurt right now. And if they were getting attacked right now….the others were most likely as well.
The fighting outside the alcove quitted down and much to the girls relief, Tomoe bent down to check on the girls and gave them a nod to signal that the danger had passed for now. With much relief they exited the alcove.
"Stay close," Chie took Kotori's hand, "With the glasses you won't be able to see through the fog."
"Okay…" Kotori squeezed hard, "Do you think I could get a pair of those?"
Chie chuckled, "I'll put an order in with Teddie."
Right now Rio was really grateful to be with Yukiko. When fog and things that Yukiko had called Shadows appeared she had quickly grabbed Rio and summoned her Persona Konohana Sakuya to set them on fire. Rio was liking this girl more and more. Right now they were charging forward as Sakuya flew above them setting anything in their way on fire. "Your Persona is amazing Yukiko."
"Why thank you Rio. Are you doing okay?"
"Yeah….I'm just a little nervous because I'm worried about what my brother is doing."
"Ohhh…yeah…he ended up with Yosuke didn't he?"
Rio let out a sigh, "Ryoga is too uptight for his own good. And he never thanked Yosuke for saving his life."
"Yosuke may be a bit of a klutz but push come to shove he'll do what it takes to protect your brother." Yukiko reassured her.
A sly grin crossed Rio's face, "And I'll be teaching my brother a lesson in gratitude."
Elsewhere, Shark sneezed.
Astral was impressed with how calm Narukami was staying in this situation. The blob like Shadow had proven rather resistant to lightening but Narukami had switched to another Persona called Pyro Jack that wielded fire and made quick work of the Shadow. Then more Shadows showed up and now they were running through the horde as fast as they could. Hope was backing Narukami's various Personas taking care of any attempts at sneak attacks.
"Astral look out!"
Astral was broken out of his train of thought when Hope stopped an incoming attack that was aimed at him.
"Thank you Yuma, I guess I wasn't paying attention."
"Stay sharp," Narukami cautioned, "The horde is getting thicker…"
He was right, more and more blob Shadows were approaching….and they were approaching from behind.
"Where did those come from?! We just came from that direction!" Yuma shouted.
"Keh keh keh keh…."
"Astral….are you laughing?" Narukami asked.
"No….I haven't said anything."
"Keh keh keh keh…."
"There is again…..up there!" Yuma pointed up to the ceiling. Astral froze, Narukami's eyes widened in confusion.
"Why is there a black version of Astral above us?"
Vector was howling in laughter. His accesses to the other world's powers had literally allowed him to set up viewing screens letting him watch the carnage that was ensuing. This was also his first good look at Yuma's new allies. The girl in the green jacket seemed to have a short temper but there was quite a punch to her attacks. The red girl seemed to keep calm in any situation but Vector knew from experience that you do not mess with fire wielders. The brown hair boy's antics reminded Vector too much of his Rei act but it was amusing to see Shark having to put up with him. But it was the silver haired one, their leader that sent chills down his spine for some reason. There was something very off about that boy. And there was the fact that he could use several of these Personas while his teammates could only use one. Don Thousand seemed to know the reason for this but for some reason had remained mute on the fact. Maybe he should inform Black Mist to bring him down as well so he could test and gauge his abilities.
"My my Astral…you haven't told your new friends about me yet? I'm hurt."
Yuma swallowed a lump in his throat. Black Mist was never a good thing. Black Mist and Astral in the same room was never a good thing. Black Mist in the same room seemingly controlling all the Shadows that were attacking them? A really bad thing. On top of that, Astral had seemed to be frozen in fear and Yu just kind of stood there with his jaw hanging open.
Yuma decided that he would ask the questions, "What are you doing here Black Mist?!"
Black Mist smirked, "I've been doing a bit of collecting, even more so now with my new business partners, the Barians."
This got Astral's attention, "You joined with the Barians? Why would you want to destroy your home?!"
Black Mist made a tsk sound in disgust, "It may be your home but I couldn't care less about what happens to Astral World. I only desire pure destruction."
Yu was the one who spoke next, "Just who are you?"
"Oh pardon my manners," Black Mist said with ever dripping sarcasm to his voice, "I am Number 96, Black Mist. The one piece that Astral refuses to accept." He tacked on a mocking bow for good measure.
"Number?" Yu raised an eye brow, "You're one of the Numbers?"
"Ah...so you are aware of what the Numbers truly are."
"I am," Yu straightened his back trying to look assertive, "But I thought that the Numbers were just Astral's memories."
"You're partially right with that. But we are not just bits of memory. We are literally pieces of Astral. But he just can't accept that there was a tad of darkness in him…Poor little Astral think he was so pure this entire time."
Yu noticed that Astral was trying not to make eye contact with anyone. Whether or not anything of what Black Mist saying was actually true, it was hurting Astral, and that was not going to sit well with him.
"What do you know?"
Black Mist actually looked confused, "Pardon?"
"Sounds like to me that you're just making stuff up. How do we know that you're telling the truth?"
"I just literally told you! What other proof that you need!?"
"You may look and sound like Astral but how do I know that's your real form? You could just be taking on that form just to mess with us trying to claim that you were once part of Astral."
Black Mist was left speechless. Yu smirked to himself knowing that he hit the nail on the head. But the smirk when away Black Mist started laughing.
"You've got quite the backbone kid….not even Astral has the guts to speak to me like that. But no matter…your little escaped was useless. Because that Number you were looking for…" He held up a card, "I have it right here."
"You hand it over right now!" Yuma shouted.
"Oh don't worry, I'll give you a chance to get it from me…ASTRAL!" Black Mist swung his arm sending a tentacle right for Astral. That's when Yu's adrenaline kicked in. Quickly calling Izanagi back, he sliced the tentacle before it even could touch Astral.
Astral breathed a sigh of relief, "That was too close."
Black Mist on the other hand just let out a humph, "Hard way it is then…." With a casual wave of his hand, the Shadows resumed their attacks.
"Not happening Black Mist!" Yuma yelled out. The attempted attack on Astral had gotten his blood boiling. He raised his hand calling forth another Persona Card. "Number 10 White Knight Illuminator!" The shattering glass sound brought forth a white clad knight riding on a horse clad in similar armor with the number 10 glowing on its right shoulder plate. The knight wasted no time in joining Hope in the assault on the Shadows.
"Are you going to be okay with two of them out Yuma?" Yu asked worryingly.
"I will be, if this is quick," Yuma was already panting from the stress of having two Personas out.
Astral on the other hand had his attention focused on Black Mist, "What do you hope to gain from here?! You already have the Number!"
"Oh Astral Astral…" Black Mist shook his head, "I just want to make you suffer that's all. After all….you need me to become complete but you hate the darkness. And besides…all of these humans are just making you soft. You're better off without them."
Astral bit his lip trying to think of a retort. For some reason whenever he had to face Black Mist he could not come up with the words to trip his dark counterpart up. Why was he so scared of him?!
"And now your mine!"
Astral had become so deep in his thoughts that he failed to notice another tentacle heading his way barely giving him time to react as it wrapped around him pinning his arms to his side.
Yuma and Yu who had gotten caught up in the battle didn't realize Astral's predicament until they heard him cry out in pain.
"LET HIM GO!" Yuma screamed as he sent Hope and White Knight after Black Mist.
"I don't think so…" Another tentacle shot out striking both warriors sending them crashing wall, White Knight shattering like glass on impact. This had caused Yuma to go flying into the wall as well striking it with a sickening crack and then slumped against the wall unmoving. Hope had vanished right then and there. The sight had made Yu's blood go cold.
"Now it's time for our rematch Astral…I've prepared the arena…" Black Mist cackled as be begun to drag Astral off.
Yu could feel his anger boil over. Yuma was unconscious and a black psychotic clone of Astral was dragging the real one off and there were still Shadows blocking his way to pursue them but he couldn't leave Yuma alone either. He needed a strong Persona. But he had no idea witch one would be strong enough to handle the situation. He had to dig deep. There had to be a bond within him, something that was the key. Then he felt one tug hard, as if demanding to be called out. Yu was surprised; he never felt this bond before. He reached back to it and the image flooded his mind. Sword…Yuma…this was his bond with Yuma. And the newly formed Persona was angry, angry like Yuma was, angry like he was at seeing his friends hurt. "You want out….I'll let you out." Yu crushed the card has hard he could.
Energy flared up in the hallway causing the Shadows to back off in fear. Black Mist had even halted in his retreat to turn back at the source, "What the heck!?"
Yu stood up as the new warrior appeared in front of him. The new figure was a man, wearing purple armor with a purple robe over top of it. He was also wearing a conical helmet that had a slight curve to it. And in the man's right hand was a green staff. Yu wasted no time in giving a command, "Go."
The magician charged forward releasing orbs of magical energy from his staff and once they made contact with the Shadows, they simply exploded.
Black Mist barely had any time to make any sort of expletive when the magician was right in his face, "Wh-"
The magician then made a no-no sign by waving his finger before blasting him in the face with another magical blast sending Black Mist deeper down the corridor and tore the tentacle holding Astral who wasted no time in getting back to Yuma.
"Yuma! Yuma please wake up!"
Yu ran over and gently looked over the boy. When he gingerly touched the back of his head, he felt the warm wet feeling of blood. "Crap," he cursed to himself, "Yuma's got a serious head wound."
"What do we-" Astral was cut off when the purple magician suddenly appeared right behind them. He couldn't shake off a feeling that he had seen this magician before.
Yu stared at his new Persona, "Can you help him?"
The magician nodded. He knelt down so that he was level to Yuma and raised his staff. Rather than the destructive energy from before, it was a soothing blue energy that radiated from the gem in the staff and right before everyone's eyes, the blood disappeared from Yuma's hair and his skin took on a healthier color. He then finally opened his eyes, "G-guys?"
"Yuma…thank goodness…" Astral let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
Yuma slowly sat up as Yu steadied him, "W-what happened?"
"You took a nasty blow to the head. Thankfully the new Persona I summoned could heal." Yu motioned up the magician in question.
When Yuma saw the magician, his expression went from tired to someone who had just met their idol, "Is that the Dark Magician!?"
It clicked in Astral's head, that's why he looked familiar; he had seen him as one of the legendary monsters that had a statue in the Duel Lodge.
Yu blinked in confusion, "You…know who he is?"
Yuma nodded excitedly, "Oh yeah I do! He's the ace monster of the original duel king! Yugi Muto!" His excitement was rising by the second, "But…how did you summon him if you've never seen him before?"
That, Yu didn't have an answer too, but is seemed that Astral did, "It's your bond with Yuma isn't it?"
The two boys looked at the spirit confused. Astral then elaborated, "Narukami, you explained to me that your ability to use multiple Personas stem from the bonds you've made. Yuma just recently became your friend, and it seemed to give you access to Duel Monsters of the past to be called forth as your Persona."
Yu felt a bit...honored if that was the right word. He never really gave thought to where the Persona's originated from and now…it was fascinating. Granted he didn't know a lot about the culture and history of Duel Monsters, but the way Yuma spoke of this Yugi Muto, he seemed to be a well respected person back in his time. All he could hope is to use this man's ace well. "Thank you…" Yu faced Dark Magician, "You can go now." He was about to wave his hand to dismiss him but stopped when he saw Dark Magician hold up his hand as if to tell to hold on. His eyes were darting around as if he sensed something. "What's wrong?" Yu asked.
What was wrong was the fact that section of stairs they were standing has started to lower like an elevator, fast. Yu had to bend down to keep his balance, "What now!?"
"I don't know," Astral admitted, "But be ready for anything."
That anything was the platform suddenly stopping then opening up like a trap door. Thankfully Dark Magician had caught them and slowed their fall to prevent further injury. Yu looked around and did not like what he saw. They were standing on platform with a huge gap surrounding it. Cages were present as well as blood stained weapons. Then his eye caught sight of a throne situated on a platform above them. He could make out a figure seated on it. Orange hair that was slicked upward and black leather clothing. But the thing that disturbed Yu the most was the boy's age. He looked about Yuma's age and looked strangely comfortable in this environment. Then he spoke with a little sing-song to his voice, "Hello Yuma-kun…"
Yuma hissed, "Vector!"
Teddie was upset. He was hoping the entire gang would hang out today but Astral had dragged Yuma, Sensei, Youske, Chie, and Yukiko on some sort of adventure leaving him and the others back home to hold the fort. Naoto was the only one who had taken the news well. Kanji had loudly complained and Rise was upset that she couldn't discuss deck building with Yuma after she had somehow amassed a few hundred Duel Monster cards. So now Teddie was wandering the TV world just checking on things. Making sure no one else had been thrown and something even he wasn't sure why he did this, check on the areas that were connected to all of his friends. It was an odd habit sure but, he felt like that he had too. Some of them would prefer for their places to go away forever like Kanji's bath house and Rise's strip club, but Teddie felt like those places where still part of his friends so checking on them was like checking his friends. He knew Sensei appreciate his as sometimes they would revisit a place to get some Persona training in and they knew going there was safe since Teddie always checked it. He had just passed Naoto's secret lab and was on his way to Yuma' palace. As the newest of the areas Teddie checked it often. After all, Yuma was the youngest of the group so if it was like anything in the books Teddie read; it was the job of the older members of the group to look after him. The fog parted as Teddie drew close, and then saw something was different.
The palace was still there, well…half of it. In the other half, it looked like something had grown out of it. But looking closer Teddie saw that it was a tower made of black metal. The jagged spikes clashed with the architecture of the original palace. But over all…the tower felt wrong. It clearly didn't belong there. The areas had never changed before, even after the creator of the area came back. This meant…someone else had been here. Teddie turned around and ran as fast as his tinny legs could carry him back to the Junes exit. The other had to know what was going on.
First off, big thanks to KeybladSamurai for giving me the idea that the Sword Personas are the past protags monsters. And now we've seen what's been going on back in the TV world...dun dun dun! Like I said last week, it may be two weeks before the next chapter is posted due to my school load. I will try my best to write when I can.