Yeah, a new chapter! It feels good to be writing again after finals craziness! My sincerest apologies for the delay, I'll do my best to update sooner next time. As usual I appreciate your feedback and I thank you for your patience. I assure you all that the next update will be sooner, though I am helping my parents over the next day or so move into a new home, so I can't comment on to how much sooner it will be. Thank you all for your continued patience and support, it really does mean a lot to me! Enjoy reading!
Teddie led the Investigation Team deep into the shadow world, sniffing vigorously toward some unknown destination. After several minutes of walking they arrived at what appeared to be some sort of bathhouse. Waves of steam emanated from the entrance, blanketing the surrounding area in a hot mist. Although the exterior seemed harmless enough, something about the place didn't sit well with Chie. The heat emanating from the entrance prompted Chie to tug at the collar of her track jacket, the surrounding area growing increasingly humid as they got closer.
"Uh… you sure this is the place Ted?" Yosuke asked, visibly uncomfortable.
Taking a long sniff, Teddie nodded vigorously, "Yep, this is it alright!"
Suddenly from inside they heard a strange deep voice, beckoning another higher pitched one.
Yosuke gulped, clearly not thrilled at the prospect of going inside.
"Well come on then!" Chie exclaimed, sensing the group's hesitance. "Let's do this!"
The group nodded, proceeding inside.
"Ugh, it's so steamy!" Yukiko complained. "It's fogging up my glasses!"
"Yeah no kidding," Yosuke agreed. "I can barely see a thing! And man is it hot!" Sighing he grudgingly continued deeper into the building. Suddenly seeing dark silhouettes moving amongst the steam, he readied his kunai. "Shadows!"
Upon hearing Yosuke's announcement Chie's muscles tensed as she quickly moved into a fighting stance, ready to face whatever might appear. Suddenly the steam cleared revealing Kanji, clad in nothing but a bath towel wrapped around his waist. Kanji! Chie thought, shocked at his sudden appearance. But something's not quite right…
The figure shifted its gaze to the group, its golden eyes betraying its true nature. "Oohh, is that anyway to greet your host?" Three huge shadow monsters clad in police officer clothing quickly appeared out of the shadow, armed with what appeared to be guns. "Such rowdy behavior! Boys, please see our guests out!" Giggling madly the shadow retreated deeper into the bathhouse.
"Hey get back here!" Chie shouted, moving to pursue the shadow, before being blocked off by the its compatriots, who promptly drew their weapons. Faltering for a bit, Chie suddenly broke into a grin crying out, "Alright, let's go Tomoe! Lay 'em out!" Appearing from the depths of her soul, Tomoe materialized, then quickly delivered a slew of punishing blows, staggering the creatures. "C'mon Yukiko, finish them off!"
Yukiko nodded, calling forth Konohana Sakuya, shouting, "Maragi!" A column of flame immediately consumed the enemies, dissolving into a black mist.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side Yukiko-san," Yosuke said, whistling in awe and a hint of fear.
Yukiko shrugged modestly, dismissing the comment.
"Ugh, leave it to the girls to ruin my fun!" A voice emanating throughout the building said, Kanji's shadow no doubt.
"Hey what's that supposed to mean?" Chie shouted in outrage, though no response was given.
"Umm… something tells me that Kanji's shadow… err… um, swings the other way…" Yosuke explained awkwardly.
"Oh… uh, I guess that makes sense," Chie replied, catching Yosuke's meaning.
Yukiko on the other hand, looked completely puzzled, Yosuke's euphemism going completely over her head. "Yosuke-kun, I don't think Kanji ever played baseball or golf…"
The rest of the group aside Teddie, who was also unfamiliar with the real worlds colloquial expressions, mentally face palmed.
"Don't worry about it Yukiko-san," Yosuke replied. "Let's just move on," He added quickly, attempting to change the subject as quickly as possible.
"Agreed, there's no time to waste," Yu said firmly.
After fighting their way through the bathhouse, receiving suggestive remarks from Kanji's shadow periodically, they finally reached what appeared to be the end. Entering through the large doors, the sight of Kanji arguing heatedly with his shadow was revealed.
"No, it ain't like that!" Kanji protested angrily, only serving to strengthen his shadow.
"How can you deny it?" The golden eyed shadow replied, "Girls are so mean and cruel, they always made fun of us! Men are so much better!"
"Wha-"Kanji stuttered, clearly flustered at what the shadow was implying. "No, no! There's no way in hell you're me! I ain't like that!"
"Why can't you accept me?" The shadow replied, appearing sad. "That's all I want!" The black aura around the shadow intensified. "So it looks like I'll just have to make you!" A wave of energy sent Kanji reeling as the shadow transformed into a hulking muscular figure adorned with an assortment of flowers. "Now who have we here? Ah, those rowdy boys from earlier! Mmm, shame you brought your lady friends with you…" The shadow cast a predatory, hungry glance at the boys, prompting them both to blanch slightly. "Boys, restrain them, I'll see to it that these harpies don't go spoiling our fun!"
Suddenly a deep voice appeared from behind Yosuke, "Hey there handsome." Yosuke emitted a less than manly shriek as a pair of strong arms held him fast. The rest of the group turned to see muscle bound shadow holding Yosuke tightly.
"Hang in there Yo-" Yu began before being interrupted by a second pair of arms restraining him as well. Struggling in the shadows grasp Yu shouted, "Pers-"before the shadows hand promptly silenced him.
"Shh…" The shadow whispered, "It'll all be over soon…"
"Looks like it's up to us Yukiko," Chie said. "Remember that move we've been practicing?"
Yukiko nodded firmly, "Let's do it," she said solemnly. Calling forth their respective personae, the maneuver began with Tomoe conjuring a dragon of ice, which promptly began to bare down on the shadows holding their comrades. Konohana channeled fire magic into a large flower, with the flaming roots ensnaring the shadows tightly. The shadow quickly dropped their charges to defend themselves from the onslaught.
"Back off guys!" Chie yelled. Breaking into a grin she continued, "We'll show you how it's done!"
Suddenly the dragon coiled around shadows bringing them to the center of the raging inferno, and suddenly the petals cascaded down, bathing the shadows in flame, the assault prompting the shadows to dissolve into nothingness.
"Argh, you're ruining everything!" Kanji's shadow cried.
"Alright everyone, let's focus on Kanji's shadow," Yu ordered.
Suddenly the shadow roared, prompting Chie to grasp her head in pain at the sound. Opening her eyes, all she could see was red, a sudden rage burning within her. Locking eyes with Kanji's shadow a strange grin graced her features. You're dead meat now, Chie thought before charging at the shadow with reckless abandon. The voices Yu and Yosuke barely registered in Chie's mind, Kanji's shadow commanding her full attention. Sprinting towards the shadow, she leapt into the air landing on the shadow's outstretched arm. Running up the shadow's arm, she then leapt again, delivering a vicious kick to the shadow's jaw.
Landing back on her feet, Chie smirked at her handiwork, noting that the shadow was still reeling from the blow. It recovered quickly however, grabbing Chie and violently casting her at Yukiko, who also was in an enraged state of mind. Pain wracked Chie's body as she crashed into her friend. However, she seemed unable to restrain herself, quickly getting up and preparing for another attack. This time the shadow was prepared, swatting Chie away with ease. Pain coursed through Chie's body as she hit the ground again, and she could hear Yosuke and Yu shouting in panic. Despite the pain, her body acted of its own accord, and Chie slowly began to stagger to her feet. Everything hurts so much… I can barely stand… Straining to gather her thoughts, all Chie could bring herself to focus was the shadow, and her overwhelming desire to destroy it. Something at the back of her mind was screaming at her while she prepared for another attack, but Chie found herself unable to heed the warning.
Suddenly, Yu's voice broke through all the red, "Me Patra!" Instantly Chie's mind felt clear, the bout of rage seemingly past. All the injuries had begun to take their toll however, and Chie quickly found her consciousness fading as she collapsed onto the floor.
Chie woke up to find Yu using a persona to tend to her injuries. Reciting a healing spell, his persona quickly obliged, and Chie quickly felt all the pain and fatigue from her body disappear. Seeing that his handiwork was sufficient, Yu called back the persona, the figure returning to the depths of his soul. "You okay?" He asked, a hint of concern tinging his normally reserved tone as he offered her a helping hand up.
"Yeah," Chie said sheepishly, gratefully accepting his hand as she righted herself. "Sorry about that… I don't know what came over me."
"The shadow was somehow manipulating your emotions according to Teddie," Yu explained. "Yukiko was also affected, though we were able to reign her in before the shadow could do any serious damage."
Chie nodded in understanding, the shadows did seem to have the knack to bring out the worst in everybody. "Thanks," Chie said sincerely.
"Anytime," Yu replied, his lips curving into a light smile.
Feeling her cheeks heat slightly, Chie opted to change the subject to the matter at hand. "Where's Kanji?" She asked, noting that they were still in the shadow's lair.
Yu gestured to the far end of the room, where Kanji was currently staring down his shadow, who was looking back with a blank expression. "You gon' say somethin' punk?" Kanji growled. He looked at the shadow in disgust, turning away from it.
"Accept me!" The shadow begged, "Will someone please accept me!"
"If Kanji keeps up like this, it's gonna go bear-zerk again any minute!" Teddie panicked.
Suddenly, Kanji closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Exhaling, he rapidly turned around and delivered a crushing punch to the shadow's face. Everyone else in the room looked on in shock as Kanji approached the now supine form of his shadow. Sighing, the teen said, "C'mon, get up. If you really are me, than you should be tough enough to take that." The shadow, slowly began to get up, looking at Kanji expectantly. Sighing reluctantly, Kanji continued. "Guess I always knew there was somethin' like you inside me this whole time. Shit, it ain't even about guys or chicks, I was just scared shitless of bein' rejected. I get it now, you're me… and I'm you…"
The shadow nodded, quickly being enveloped in a bright light, transforming into a hulking, black, robotic figure, painted with a skeleton design. The figure then collapsed into a glimmering tarot card, before withdrawing inside of Kanji. Suddenly, he fell to his knees, breathing heavily from exertion, prompting the rest of The Investigation Team to rush to his side.
"Kanji-kun!" Yukiko cried.
"S'fine, ain't nothin' I can't handle," Kanji muttered, swatting away any help as he unsteadily got to his feet. "What're you all lookin' at? Let's just get the hell out of this dump." Everyone else nodded hesitantly, leading him out of the shadow world.
After making their way out of the TV world, Kanji addressed the Investigation Team, "Alright, just what the hell is going on?"
"We'll explain everything later," Yosuke said. "Right now you should probably get some rest, you don't look so good man…"
Kanji dismissed Yosuke's concern, but didn't argue, suggesting that he was more tired than he let on. "Alright, you better keep your word." Kanji conceded.
"Shouldn't someone walk Kanji-kun home?" Yukiko asked, "I remember how I was after…" She trailed off, not wanting to remember her confrontation with her shadow.
"Tch, I don't need no babysitter!" Kanji protested, storming off for a couple of steps before nearly falling over in fatigue.
"I'll handle it," Yu said calmly. "Good job today everyone, get some rest," Yu said, making his way out of the store with a very unhappy looking Kanji.
"Phew, glad that's over… Man am I beat…" Yosuke said, exhaling in relief. "With any luck, he might've seen something that might get us closer to finding the killer."
"Yeah!" Chie exclaimed, "That creep has no idea what's coming for him once we find him!"
"Yeah…" Yosuke agreed, his expression becoming solemn. Reverting back to his original enthusiasm, he continued, "Well, that does it for me ladies, I'm outta here! Later!"
"C'mon Yukiko, I'll walk you to the bus stop," Chie offered. Yukiko nodded, and they both exited the store together.
"Something seemed to be bothering Yosuke-kun," Yukiko noted.
"Yeah, he seemed kinda off there for a bit," Chie agreed. "I think he's still not over Konishi-senpai's death…"
Yukiko murmured her assent to Chie's suggestion. "I hope he'll be okay…"
"C'mon this is Yosuke we're talking about! He'll be fine! Heck, he still hits on you like nothing ever happened!" Chie joked.
Yukiko nodded solemnly, not a single trace of laughter on her face.
"Hey what's wrong?" Chie asked. The Yukiko I know would have at least acted all embarrassed or something… Chie mused.
"It's just… even though Yosuke-kun accepted his shadow, I think there are some things that he has yet to face…" Yukiko said quietly. "I think the same could be said for all of us…"
The rest of the walk remained silent as Chie pondered what Yukiko had said.