"I am a shadow, the true self. I'll crush everything that bores me, starting with you! " Shadow Yosuke bellowed as it caught Yu's blade between its hands. Shadow Yosuke's lower half reared up and slammed them onto the ground, a large gust of green wind throwing Yu into a tower of liquor-filled barrels. "How long can you survive this?" With a grunt, Yu shoved the barrels off of him and jumped into the air, hovering as he observed his foe.

"This one's much stronger than the last type! Be careful!" Teddie shouted as he stayed near Yosuke, who was curled into a ball and clawing at his hair, shaking every few seconds. Teddie could hear his new friend muttering "No, no, no." over and over, but he had no idea on how to help.

Despite the twisted Konishi liquor store being much larger on the inside, the Shadow's height was about halfway to the ceiling - around twenty five feet tall. Because of this, Yu had thought that the Shadow would have a difficult time maneuvering, or that it would be slow, but the opposite was true. It was incredibly quick, and it certainly didn't care about anything that got crushed under its massive feet. Thankfully, its attention wasn't on Yosuke or Teddie, but that could change in a few seconds if Yu didn't act soon.

With a flick of his wrist, Yu struck the Shadow with a Zio spell. It let out a screech of pain and flew back into the wall, a large crack appearing as it fell to the ground, crushing its human half beneath its weight. Yu huffed and flew down, grabbing his Naginata as he charged at the Shadow, swinging the blade in a large arc.

Shadow Yosuke let out a yell as the blade cut through one of its front legs, the limb disappearing in an explosion of black and red dust. "That's not gonna work!" Despite the newly amputated limb, the shadow managed to stand up and swing at Yu, who barely got the Naginata in place to block the attack. "No matter who I meet and what I say, I'll always be 'The Junes Prince!'" It roared in rage, turning its head to Yosuke. "I'll always just be used as a tool for discounts, and nothing will change! No matter how far I run, that damn store will always be attached to me by my god damn hip!"

"Zio!" Yu sent another lightning bolt at the Shadow, who held its tongue when its remaining legs buckled. It let out a sad chuckle and slumped over, staring at Yosuke, who was still hiding his face.

"You're so done with everyone, with everything really! What about your old man, huh? Throws around slurs not knowing how much they burn when they reach your ears. You wish he was dead; after all, it would mean that you wouldn't have to stay in this shithole." The Shadow let out another roar of pain as Izanagi's blade sliced through its remaining front leg, forcing it to use the front of its body to stand. The human upper body threw its hands down and slapped Yu to the ground, creating a crater from the impact. The teen groaned, slowly climbing to his feet and panting harshly. The shadow's fanged mouth opened, a swirling green vortex churning in the void. Yu grunted and bent his legs and moved into a guarding position.

"Shut up!" Shadow Yosuke's mouth closed and it turned to face Yosuke, who was glaring at his shadow with a tear-streaked face. "You don't know anything!" The Shadow stared at its human counterpart before breaking into a hysterical laughing fit.

"I don't know anything?" It choked out in between its giggles. "That's a riot! You still don't believe anything after what you've witnessed? Get it through your thick skull that I. Am. Yo-!" A choked sound escaped its lips, tilting its head down to stare at the Naginata blade that had pierced its chest. Its two hind legs went limp, and its arms fell to its side, letting out a few choked noises before completely breaking into red and black particles. Yu floated in the air, mind aching from just pure exhaustion that hummed from his very core. He lost his focus, plummeting to the ground as a brilliant flash of blue surrounded him and his head smashed into the ground.

"...up!" Yu's fingers twitched and his eyes opened. The world was a massive blur right now, and his head hurt like hell, but he couldn't ignore his shoulder being shaken frantically. Slowly but surely, his eyes focused and Teddie's alarmed cries for Yu to wake up finally registered. With slow movements, he brushed off Teddie's palm and managed to get on his hands and knees without vomiting. A groan farther away from him signified where Yosuke was, and Teddie bounced onto his feet and rushed to the other boy's side in obvious panic.

What happened? Yu rubbed the back of head only to flinch when he ran over a sensitive area. Pulling his hand back into his vision, Yu could feel his heart freeze when he saw his pale skin covered in blood.

And then the memories of the fight came back.

Ignoring his exhaustion and the pain in his limbs (How many injuries did he have? Are there any broken bones? Does he have to go to the hospital?) Yu rushed to Yosuke's side just as Teddie helped the other teen to his feet.

"Y-Yeah." Yosuke said, possibly answering one of Teddie's rapid-fire questions getting shot at him. His attention turned to Yu, and his eyes promptly widened when he noticed his friend's injuries. "What… happened?"

"That happened." Yu gestured behind Yosuke, who turned around and stared at his standing doppelganger. The Shadow didn't say anything, it just stared at the trio with its bright yellow eyes, and Yosuke felt a chill going down his spine. "You- You're not me."

"That thing came from you, Yosuke. You have to admit it, or it'll go berserk again." Teddie said, his pupils now cut in half, trying to show a saddened expression. Yu coughed and, using the golf club that had somehow remained in his hands, began to lean on it heavily, unable to fully support his weight. Yosuke turned around and grimaced, but Yu couldn't tell if it was because he was scared for his health, or if it was because the Shadow that had caused all this harm had come from him.

"You're still yourself, Yosuke." Yu said, ignoring that his head really hurt at the moment. "Accepting it doesn't change anything about you."

"Myself…" Yosuke mumbled. "Dammit, it hurts to face yourself." He took a deep breath in, closed his hands into fists, and walked up to his Shadow. "I knew it wasn't lying, but I was so ashamed that I didn't want to admit it. You're me, and I'm you. When you get down to it, all of this is me."

Yosuke's Shadow, which up until this point had a stony expression, gave a small smile and a nod. The dark aura surrounding it flickered and became a soft blue, its body shifting and rising above the ground. A much taller humanoid figure took its place, dressed in a pure white suit with camouflage-themed gloves and pant legs with a long red scarf fluttering in a non-existent breeze. From its chest was the same large, fanged grin that was present on the shadow, and it's head was completely black with two mouse-like ears on top with a red slit on each of them. On the palms of its hands and in place of its eyes were two shurikens. It burst into a blue light and a card spun to the ground, floating briefly in front of Yosuke before it, too disappeared in a blue light.

"This is my Persona." Yosuke stated before he sat down on the ground, letting out a 'huff' and leaning back. Teddie and Yu immediately rushed to the other, who let out a dry chuckle at their concern. "When we heard Senpai's voice, I wonder if that was something Senpai had been keeping deep down inside. "He was a real pain in the ass," huh? What a way to find out. Geez, this is so embarrassing." Yu let out a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground next to Yosuke, who immediately forgot his exhaustion after seeing the nasty cut on Yu's head. "Crap, you are really banged up! Hold on, the store has a medical kit in here for emergencies, I'll go and grab it." Yu watched as Yosuke rushed off to the back of the store, Teddie walking with him to see the stuff inside the store's back room. The silver haired teen couldn't help but smile.

It had been too long since he had someone that cared about him, and it felt good.

After an unusually large amount of fussing from Yosuke, and Teddie interjecting every few seconds to say that Yosuke had to stop hurting his sensei, Yu's head was bandaged up and cleaned with rubbing alcohol and napkins. The walk back was torturous for both boys, as they were exhausted from the past hour of walking, fighting, and mental strain. Yu had a slightly obvious limp with his right leg, which had also been patched up, so he used the golf club as a walking stick as to not make the injury worse.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, the trio had made it back to the original twisted stage, and the foreboding silence was broken by Yosuke. "Hey, Teddie. You said that this place is reality for people who enter, right? So that shopping district, and the weird room we saw before, did they exist because the ones who died entered this world, and it became their reality?" Noticing Teddie's confused expression, Yosuke stopped and reevaluated his word choice. "I guess what I'm trying to ask is, did those places for because of the people who entered this world?"

"I don't know, it's never happened before. But that's probably where they were when the Shadows attacked them." Teddie replied, shuffling his feet.

"It was the same for them?" Yu questioned. He leaned on the golf club a bit more as his head let out an annoyed throb. Thinking was kind of difficult with a head injury, but screw it, he was going to tough this out until he got home and then would go straight to bed. He could probably get the homework done in the morning, or simply say to the teachers that he was busy unpacking and couldn't get it done (Morooka probably wouldn't buy it, but god, right now he really doesn't care).

"The fog does lift here sometimes; the Shadows get really violent then. I always get so scared. I have to hide when it happens. I sensed people here twice before, but both of them disappeared after the fog lifted."

"So let's get this straight…" Yosuke said, and Yu noticed that he was a few shades paler than he was at the store. "Senpai and that Yamano lady were thrown in here, and since they couldn't get out, they wandered around. After a while, that Shadow thing came out of them. The fog cleared, it went berserk, and it ended up killing them. So if I'd been here until the fog cleared, I would have been in much deeper trouble?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. You were lucky; Sensei and I were here with you."

"Dammit." Yosuke swore, hanging his head. "Senpai and that announcer… they were stuck here all alone, no one could save them."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it." Yu said. "We couldn't have known at the time, and even if we did know, we couldn't have fought the Shadows and gotten out of here alive."

"They disappeared when the fog lifted, but they were safe before that! No Shadows attacked them. They attacked us though…" Teddie said, trying to lift Yosuke's mood. "Maybe they're keeping a close eye on us, they might see people who investigate this place as enemies. It'll be dangerous, but we might be able to fight them! We might save people!"

Yu and Yosuke immediately perked up after that, the brown haired teen's eyes lighting up with hope. "Are you saying, if anyone else gets thrown in here, we can save them before they disappear? Like how you guys just saved me?"

"We won't know unless we try." Yu smiled at Yosuke, who kept a neutral expression on his face.

"Anyways, we need to catch the one who's throwing people in here and make him stop. Yeah, I'm finally starting to understand what's going on."

"Um…" Teddie piped in, putting his arms behind his back. "Can I ask something too? If Shadows are born from humans, what was Teddie born from?"

"You don't even know where you came from? How should we know?" Yosuke yelled, his answer dwarfing Yu's small shrug.

"I know some things - mostly about this world, but I don't know anything about myself. To be honest, I never thought about it until now."

"Are you serious? No wonder we couldn't get a straight answer out of you."

"Will you guys come back here?" Teddie asked.

"We made a promise, right?" Yu replied, smiling down at the bear, who gave a small smile back.

"You'll keep your word?"

"Well, you're the one who said you weren't letting us out unless we do." Yosuke joked, lightly tapping the side of Teddie's head with his elbow. The bear wobbled on his left foot, arms flailing before he steadied himself, humming in annoyance.

"Okay, I'll let you out, but there's one thing. I'll be waiting for you guys here. You need to come in from the same place every time so we can meet up."

"The TV at Junes?" Yu asked, tilting his head and wincing as the blood flow shifted, noticing that Yosuke had flinched.

"You could come in from somewhere else, but then you won't end up here. You might show up somewhere I couldn't get to you. Then you'd be do-omed." Yosuke shook his head at Teddie's antics while Yu gave a tired smile. "Got it?"

"Well, pretty much. Alright, can you show us the way out now?" Yosuke said, and Yu gave a thumbs up to answer Teddie. The bear smiled and nodded, tapping his foot on the ground twice and a stack of three TVs appeared out of smoke to his right.

"Cool. First we need to make sure there aren't any employees milling around out there-!" Yosuke was roughly shoved into the TV by Teddie, who was pushing both teens into the TV despite their protests for the bear to wait. Yu simply watched as the other TV screen came closer, and smirked as Yosuke cursed the bear's existence only a few inches behind him as they collided into the screen.

Chie Satonaka knows many things about herself. She knows she has a short temper, she knows she loves beef (any kind of meat, really), and she knows that if anything happened to her friends, she would freak out.

Which is why, when Yu and Yosuke came out of the TV groaning in pain, she was so relieved. She was so relieved that she hadn't noticed that Yu had a liberal amount of bandages on his head and body, or that Yosuke was really pale and did not look like he was healthy at all.

She was mad, but she was so relieved that these two idiots were alive and standing in front of her when they both could have died horribly in a world that only she knew about.

So that's why, when Yosuke so noncommittally shrugged off her sobbing as if they weren't gone for nearly four hours and were facing death in the face, she blew up. She threw the severed rope in Yosuke's face, happy when it made a satisfying smack and the idiot fell down (it was then she noticed that they were wearing glasses, but those details do not register when you are so made you are seeing red on the edges of your vision).

"The nerve of you guys! You are such morons! I can't believe this! You guys suck!" She wiped the tears streaks off of her face, despite her continuing tears and yelling. "The rope got cut off, I had no idea what to do, I was so worried- I mean scared stiff, dammit! I hate you both!" She screamed, half tempted to slap Yu if it weren't for the dead terrified look in his eyes. She let out a final yell of all the pent up emotions she'd been holding back for the past hours before sprinting off, bumping into other people as she ran out the door.

She could care less about what happened to Yu and Yosuke, she was so angry at them that the world could have ended and she'd be happy just because those two would be corpses.

Yu was so happy that Junes had a section of the store with umbrellas, because if they didn't, the walk home would have been torture. He could deal with the morning walk, because the walk to school was relatively short from his current home. The walk from Junes, however, takes nearly another half hour. He wasn't getting home until eight or later, it was going to get dark, and coming home in the dark and soaked from head to toe wasn't exactly pleasant. Especially when you feel like you were hit by a freight train and your head honestly feels like it's scrambled eggs.

Despite all of this, Yu still notices Yukiko, who is dressed in a kimono under a pagoda by the riverbank. She did have an umbrella (thank god, because Yu did not want to lend another one out), but Yu still wanted to take a break because he was tired and he would not be able to make the walk home without stopping at least once.

"Are you surprised to see me dressed this way? My parents sent me out on an errand." Yukiko said, attempting to be friendly with Y "Um… are you getting used to your new town and school?"

"I like it here." Granted, the murders and alternate worlds are less than desired, but I've been having a pretty decent time here… except for right now.

"Really? It must be difficult, moving to a place you know nothing about."

"Yeah, but I like it. I mean, it's not as popular or crowded. No one knows me, and I don't know anyone here… It's nice."

"Well, I've never been out of Inaba, so I wouldn't know what it's like to transfer to a new school."

"After you transfer as many times I have, you get used to it."

"Oh, are you getting along with Chie? I mean, I always leave early, so…"

"Hey, you can't be blamed for it. Stuff's out of your control." Yu paused for a bit thinking over his answer. "We're getting along."

"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. We had homeroom together last year too, and I still remember how we'd cut class sometimes." Yukiko smiled with a nostalgic expression on her face. "Oh, I should get going. I need to make tomorrow's arrangements with our head chef. Our inn can't function without me right now." Yu nodded as the girl stood up, pushing out her umbrella and holding it over her shoulder.

"Hey, get home safe, alright?" Yu said, noticing Yukiko wince as she walked in the direction he had come from. He gently placed a hand on the bandage over his head, wondering why the bandages were nigh-invisible to everyone but him and Yosuke.

If Yu could be glad about one thing concerning Dojima's job, it meant that he got home late. It gave him plenty time to check on his injuries and see how they were faring, and to re-apply the bandages. Nanako mentioned, as he was putting on water for his tea (which wouldn't be finished for a while now) that he was late, and Yu almost immediately fell to his knees in relief.

The cuts and bruises on his legs hadn't changed much, but considering the amount of blood on the bandages, they had opened up several times on his walk home, only slowing down the healing process. The cut on his head, however, was now only a small red line, and it barely hurt to touch the surrounding skin. It had healed much faster than it should be possible, and Yu could only smile and glance at Izanagi, who had managed to sit down in the small tub. After cleaning and bandaging his wounds again, Yu went back downstairs, made his tea, and sat with Nanako by the television. A small song rang through the speakers, and Yu rolled his eyes as the announcer began to 'update' the public on the murders in Inaba.

"At around 7:00 AM, local high school student Saki Konishi was found dead in Inaba's residential area. Since the body was positioned similarly to the last victim, and since Ms. Konishi was the one who discovered that body, police are proceeding under the assumption that this may be a serial murder case related to the death of Mayumi Yamano. The coroner's report has established Ms. Konishi's time of death at around 1:00 AM last night. The body went unnoticed until this morning as a result of the heavy fog blanketing the area."

"Another incident." Nanako sighed and looked away from the TV, hanging her head. "Dad won't be coming home tonight."

"Are you worried about him?" Yu asked, half tempted to turn of the TV. If it weren't for the fact that he needed to know what the weather would be like tomorrow, he would have turned it off.

"Uh-huh, but that's how it goes. He's a detective, so he's really busy."

"...Amagi Inn, located upstream of Samegawa River, is the town's oldest historical landmark." Yu sighed in relief as the report moved away from the murder mystery. "Vacationers are known to travel surprising distances in order to visit its open-air, radium-rich hot springs."

"After the incident with Ms. Yamano, the manager has stepped aside, leaving her daughter Yukiko to fill her shoes." Yu nearly spat out his tea when the camera changed to Yukiko, who was wearing the same kimono as earlier. "In other words, she's a manager who's still in high school. Now that has a nice ring to it, let's see if we can interview her. Excuse me!"

Say one perverted thing, asshole, Yu seethed as the reporter and cameraman got closer to his friend. And I will make certain this is the last report you do.

"Hm? Um, are you speaking to me?" Yukiko asked

"We've heard that you're the new manager. Is it true you're still in high school?" The reporter shoved the microphone into Yukiko's face, causing her to jump back.

"Oh, well, I'm only filling in temporarily."

"Someday, though. That aside, wow! You're looking gorgeous in that kimono; you must have had a lot of male visitors." Yu swears that he saw a crack form on his cup from how hard he was clenching it. Izanagi, thank god, did not move to stab the TV, but electricity still jumped off of their body sporadically.

"Huh? No, um…" as the reporter's rambling went further and further off topic, Yu had to close his eyes and block out the report completely. Yu mentally sighed in relief as Nanako said that the report was boring and that she needed to do the dishes. Yu took the opportunity to help, turning off the TV, and trying to forget about what the reporter said. He could find him and break his legs in the morning.

It was still raining at 11:45. Dojima had still not arrived home yet, but Nanako had been put to bed and Yu had managed to get his homework done. Izanagi stared out the window, but what he was looking for was unknown to Yu.

At 11:55, after Yu had checked his wounds - now they were nearly gone - and dressed for bed, he wondered if someone would appear on the TV again. Taking a deep breath, he crawled out from under his covers and stood front of it, listening to the end of the night weather report. Nanako had wanted to go to bed early, but the program hadn't ended by the time he got to bed.

"In other Inaba-related news, meteorologists are predicting heavy fog throughout the year." The weather announcer cheerful reported. "The region has seen an abnormal amount of fog over the past few years, and the cause of the climate change is unknown. Whatever the reason, residents of the Inaba area should be extra careful. Our broadcast tonight was extended to bring you up-to date news on the incident in Inaba. The time is now midnight." And with that, Yu turned off the TV and waited.

The lights flickered and dimmed, and the black screen lit up with static and white noise. Yu simply stared as a silhouette of a human appeared. Based on their body, Yu could tell it was a female and that the person was wearing a kimono, but other than that, there was nothing to go off of. Kimonos during this time of year were not commonly seen, but most families do have one, and just seeing a silhouette of a girl with one on isn't a lot of information.

What happens if I touch it? Very cautiously, Yu placed his hand on the TV screen only to have it slowly dissolve through. Izanagi had grabbed the back of his shirt, making certain that he had a tight grip as Yu's upper arm went into the TV. Not grabbing anything, Yu could only watch as the silhouette disappeared. Taking his hand out of the TV, Yu let out a sigh and crawled back to bed, too tired to properly think about what he saw, and falling unconscious soon after his head hit the pillow.

Yu heard the humming of an engine, could feel the velvet underneath his hands, and his eyes flew open. His body was still in a lethargic state, limbs hard to move, but he recognized the interior of limousine from his dream prior to arriving in Inaba. The Velvet Room still had its two occupants - Igor and Margaret, if he remembered their names correctly - and nothing had changed from his previous visit.

"Welcome." Igor said, this time, his voice causing shivers to travel down his spine. His connection with Izanagi was not present, and he could not see where the Persona was. "Do not be alarmed, you are fast asleep in the real world. I have summoned you within your dreams."

"You say that like it's a regular thing." Yu said back, feigning confidence as he tried to move his hands onto his lap. The much older man chuckled in response, eyes closing as a happy expression crossed his face.

"Ah yes, it is something I do not do often, but I do it often enough for it to be 'normal.'" Igor let out another chuckle as Margaret took up the conversation.

"This is a space that only those who have, in one way or another, entered into a contract may enter. In your daily life, you subconsciously heard the call to awaken, and you chose to follow the destiny of your inner voice, thereby enacting your glorious awakening to your power." So the promise I made to Teddie… that's how I changed with Izanagi?

"Hold onto this." Igor stated, and a brilliant blue flame burst in front of Yu. A key with a mask depicted on the end of it fell onto Yu's lap. Finally wrangling control of his limbs, Yu picked up the key and held it in his fist. "From this night forth, you are our guest in this Velvet Room. Your destiny will require you to hone your power, and for that, you will inevitably require our help. There is but one price for this assistance, you must abide by your contract assume responsibility for all decisions you make."

Simple enough. "I understand."

"Very well. The Persona you have acquired, it is a side of you that shows itself when you face the world around you. Perhaps you can think of it as... a facade of determination you wear to face various difficulties in life. Your Persona ability, however, is that of the wild card. Compared to that of others, it is very special. It is like the number zero; empty, yet holding infinite potential within itself."

"Special?" Margaret's lips quirked up at Yu's question as Igor began to speak again.

"The Persona ability is the power to control one's own heart, and the heart is strengthened through bonds. As you form bonds by becoming involved with others, your own Social Links will gradually develop. The power of these Social Links is what will determine your Persona's abilities."

"Control one's heart?" Did he mean my actual heart, or my soul? I thought I controlled it already…

"Social Links are necessary for more than strengthening your Persona." Margaret said. "At times, they will help light the way to the truth you are searching for."

"Where will your awakened power of the wild card take you? I look forward to traveling the road of your destiny together." Igor let out an eerie chuckle, giving a small wave to Yu. His eyelids felt heavy, and he found that it became harder and harder to keep himself lucid. "'Til we meet again."

Yosuke wasn't expecting to have a decent sleep after everything that happened. He had no dreams or nightmares, despite all the craziness that had happened earlier in the day. His mother, probably the only one in the house when he got home, had ordered him to bed immediately after he finished his dinner.

"You're very pale, and you look like you collapse any second! It's a miracle you got home." She fretted, ushering her son up the stairs and into his room, continuing to say that she would 'deal with his father' and clean up dinner.

Regardless, Yosuke felt like he could run a marathon when he woke up, his brain buzzing with the possibilities of what the Midnight Channel had shown last night. Disobeying his mother wasn't a common thing in the Hanamura household, and it was even less common for him to disobey his father, but he had stayed up and watched it.

A girl and a kimono was all he and Yu had to go off of, but honestly he could care less because he was doing something to actually help people. He was preventing a murderer from killing, and honestly, he felt like a million bucks. Yosuke wasn't sore from walking all that time in the TV world, he felt like he could run to school instead of taking his bike (which was ridiculous no matter what, because it was probably a twenty minute run there). He opened his eyes, happy and willing to face Morooka head on with all of his uncompleted homework.

And then he froze as he saw a lumbering six foot tall figure floating above his bed, casually flipping through one of his 'hidden' magazines. It turned its cartoony, mouse-like head to Yosuke and waved like this was a normal thing.

Yosuke's screams could have broken glass.