A/N: Naoto's arc is drawing to a close, so that means that it's time for a boss fight!
Edit: This battle was far too brief. I was initially afraid of it dragging, but it actually was too short. I've fleshed it out quite a bit. Persona is copyrighted by Atlus and used here without permission.
Borderline of Madness, Part 1: Secret Lab
Interlude Three: I'll Face Myself
Kanji watched, transfixed as Naoto's Shadow twisted and writhed. He'd seen this transformation process before with Rise's Shadow, but this was somehow very different. And it involved much less moaning, for which Kanji was eternally grateful.
"This thing'd said 'feast your eyes…'" Kanji shuddered. Just finding out that Naoto was actually a girl was enough of a twist for one day.
Get your head out of your ass, kid! Stop thinking and start fighting! Take-Mikazuchi growled roughly.
"Right." Kanji gripped his iron plate a little tighter as he attempted to clear any thoughts of Naoto (Shadow or otherwise) yelling sexual remarks at him.
The Shadow had finally stopped transforming and the dark cloud around the figure cleared to reveal a half-robotic Naoto floating above their heads. The robot Naoto had wings and what looked to be booster boots keeping her afloat. It was wielding two large ray gun-looking weapons.
Kanji looked to the side of the room and saw the real Naoto fall to the ground. He resisted the urge to run to her side and turned his attention back to the Shadow.
"Get ready, here it comes." Rise's voice echoed through Kanji's head.
He looked to his right and nodded to Souji, Yosuke, and Yukiko. "Let's do this!"
The Shadow glared down at the party, twirling the guns. "What? Are you sick of yourselves too? Very well…then let us begin the special operation."
"Bring it on, man! I'll pull you through this!" Kanji yelled up to the Shadow.
The twisted cyborg version of Naoto sneered at him. "Have you made up your mind? Then let us commence."
Yosuke went first, the beat of his music guiding his first strike. "Garudyne!" Susano-O appeared and fired a violent blast of wind at the robot. The attack connected, however it didn't seem to phase it.
Souji went next, summoning Black Frost for a Mind Charge. Then Yukiko summoned Amaterasu and blasted Naoto's shadow with Agidyne.
Now it was Kanji's turn. "Come here, Take-Mikazuchi!" Kanji summoned his persona and felt energy surge through his body as he cast Zionga at the Naoto-bot. The attack connected and it seemed to make the Shadow flinch ever so slightly. Perhaps that was just wishful thinking.
The Shadow smirked. "Are you quite finished?" Its eyes gleamed as it raised a ray gun and fired it at Yosuke. "Mute Ray!"
Yosuke doubled over in pain. He tried to speak, but no words came out of his mouth.
"The hell?" Kanji stared at Yosuke as he attempted to summon Susano-O. The persona never appeared.
The Shadow laughed evilly. "Ah, peace and quite at last." It twirled the gun. "Such a useful little attack to use on obnoxious persons."
"Yosuke-senpai's been silenced!" Rise's voice sounded through Kanji's head.
Souji frowned and summoned Black Frost for a charged up Bufula. The attack sent the Shadow flying against the opposite wall.
Kanji watched, expecting it to fall to the ground. The Shadow, however, regained altitude and went speeding towards Souji.
"Brave Blade!"
The Shadow charged into Souji, knocking him to the ground. The force of the blow sent him skidding across the lab floor and into the adjacent wall. He coughed blood, badly injured.
"Souji-kun!"
"Senpai!"
"…!"
The Shadow chuckled at their distraction. "It is unwise to let your focus wander in battle."
Kanji looked up at the Shadow, surprised to see it staring at him.
"Garudyne!" The Shadow sent fourth a powerful blast of wind.
Move, dammit! Take-Mikazuchi's growl was slightly higher-pitched. Move, asshole! MOVE! His persona was terrified. With good reason. Wind was bad. Real bad.
Kanji attempted to use his iron plate as a shield, but the blast was too powerful. He was hit, and fell to one knee.
"Man, that did not feel good."
You're useless if its got wind!
"Aw, shut up and man up, Take-Mikazuchi. We can take it."
Kanji struggled back to his feet, attempting to drown out the growling complaints in his head.
Naoto's Shadow used the break in battle as an opportunity to charge up. "Heat Riser!"
"That ain't good." Kanji looked at Yosuke, who was desperately trying to summon Susano-O to nullify the Shadow's boost, but the mute ray was still in effect.
Yukiko meanwhile had rushed to Souji's side and quickly healed him. "Souji-kun, are you alright?"
Souji nodded and accepted her hand as she helped him to his feet. He rushed back over to the Shadow and drew a shining blue card from thin air. "Genbu!" He crushed the card in his hand, summoning a dragon-like figure.
"Dekaja!" The spell connected and nullified the Shadow's power up.
Kanji noted that cyborg-Naoto looked more than a little miffed she hadn't anticipated Souji's wild-card ability.
But it knows now. Watch that! The growling seemed resigned to fighting now.
Kanji nodded and kept his eyes trained on the Shadow, trying really hard to ignore how much it resembled Naoto.
The Shadow glared down at each member of the party and settled on Yukiko.
"Bufudyne!"
Yukiko visibly flinched and fell to her knees as the attack connected.
"Careful guys, I think this shadow knows all the -dyne attacks…and I think it knows your weaknesses. In other words, it thinks like Naoto. Don't try to outsmart it," Rise carefully advised.
Kanji shook his head. "Of course it thinks like Naoto. It IS Naoto."
Yosuke meanwhile had decided that summoning his persona was futile. He'd adopted Plan B: slice Shadow to pieces with knives.
He ran under the Shadow to the opposite wall and jumped up. He kicked his feet forward and pushed off the wall. This gave him enough altitude to take a swipe at the Shadow with his knives. Somehow, his attack connected, and he sliced a gash across the Shadow's back and shoulder.
Unfortunately, Yosuke's planning had only extended to getting up to the Shadow, not landing after hitting it. He crashed to the ground with a painful sounding thud.
"…!!!" His mouth was open in a scream, but no sound came out.
Yosuke's attack, however, had made the Shadow drop several feet.
There! It's down low. Hit it! Go! Take-Mikazuchi's rough growl prompted Kanji.
Kanji took the advice, summoned his persona, and attacked. "Mighty Swing!"
Kanji felt his persona's power behind the attack, and he sent his iron plate into the Shadow's head. The plate clanged as it connected with the Shadow, and a second clang rang out as robo-Naoto crashed to the ground.
"Hah! Got it!" Kanji raised a fist in the air.
This ain't over yet, kid!
The Shadow staggered to its feet. It wiped its mouth, as if to clear it of blood. "No, no. That will never do. Patients must lie still for me to drill proper holes in them." It chuckled and then jumped into the air again, its booster boots reactivated.
"…aww now what?" Yosuke croaked. Then a smile spread over his face. "Hey, my voice. Yeah! Let's go Susano-O!" But just as he summoned his persona, the Shadow fired its gun.
"Mute Ray!"
The attack hit and Yosuke was once again silenced. His mouth was moving in the shape of every single curse word. No one but Susano-O could hear him.
Chie, Teddie, and Rise watched the battle from the entrance to the room. The real Naoto lying off to the side was unconscious. Rise had summoned Himiko and was busily scanning the battle and shouting advice.
"That Shadow sure doesn't like Yosuke." Teddie remarked.
"Well, there is something kinda funny about it. I mean, he does talk a lot." Chie shrugged.
A sudden blast of ice drew their attention back to the battle. The Shadow had used Mabufudyne. And Yukiko had fallen to the ground, unconscious.
"Yukiko-senpai's down!" Rise's voice rang through Chie's head even though she wasn't fighting.
Souji turned to the sidelines. "Teddie, get over here!"
"Alright, but I don't really like operations." The bear pranced over to battle, taking Yukiko's spot as the healer.
Meanwhile, Chie had run over to Yukiko and dragged her away from the fray. She rummaged in her pocket for a revival bead. Upon finding one, she pressed it against Yukiko's forehead. A small beam of light shot out from the bead and into the unconscious girl. Yukiko sat up abruptly, coughing and blinking quickly.
"Did I get knocked out?"
"Yeah, Naoto's Shadow has a whole arsenal of –dyne attacks."
Just as Chie finished speaking, Kanji went flying backwards after being hit with Garudyne. Chie was about to run over when as singsong voice in her head stopped her.
Now is not the time to fight. Support them! That will be far more useful than physical attacks!
Chie frowned, but listened to Suzuka Gongen. "Hang in there, guys! You can do it!"
Kanji struggled to his feet upon hearing Chie's voice. She was right. They could do this. They'd fought so many strong enemies before. One logical Shadow wasn't going to destroy them.
Teddie healed the party with Mediarama, and Kanji felt all his wind-induced injuries heal in a refreshingly cool blast.
But Naoto's Shadow wasn't out of tricks yet. "Galgaliam eyes!"
Yosuke tried to doge the attack, but it hit him hard. He was knocked to the ground and couldn't get up.
"Yosuke-senpai's been enervated," Rise informed them.
"No problemo. You've got some bear-y good luck, Yosuke. I'm feeling generous today." Teddie grinned widely and summoned his persona. "Energy shot!"
A blue beam hit Yosuke's prone figure, and he was able to stand. He attempted to summon Susano-O, but found that he was still silenced.
He fished in his pocket and removed a device the party had found in a chest earlier in the dungeon. He chucked it at Naoto's Shadow. The device attached to the Shadow's chest.
"What foolishness is this?" The Shadow attempted to remove the item, but it stuck fast.
Suddenly a red light flashed and a high-pitched beep sounded. Yosuke smiled and saluted the Shadow.
The item exploded, sending Naoto's Shadow flying backwards.
"A smart bomb! Nice thinking, Yosuke-Senpai!" Rise squealed in delight. "Ok, guys. Hit it when it's down!"
Souji used mind charge and prepared for his next attack.
Give him some power, kid.
"Senpai, go all out, yeah?" Kanji said as he summoned Take-Mikazuchi and cast an attack boost on Souji.
Souji nodded and smiled at Kanji. He summoned Black Frost, "Agidyne!"
The adorable fanged persona appeared and sent a pillar of flame on the reeling robot.
Kanji could feel the heat from the attack, and he was several feet away from the Shadow.
"That's it guys, it's in a weakened state now!" Rise cheered them on.
The Shadow was able to get up after Souji's attack, but now it was slumped and hung low in the air. A few sparks jolted from it.
"Why won't you lie down and die? You children can't do anything at all!"
"Wanna bet?" Kanji summoned Take-Mikazuchi for a powerful blow. Souji followed this up with an electrical attack, and Yosuke (still silenced) sliced at the Shadow with his knives.
At last, the Shadow stopped moving. The robot dropped to the ground and fizzled with electricity, clearly short-circuiting.
"Alright, you won!"
Kanji didn't wait for Teddie to heal him; he walked over to Naoto and waited for her to open her eyes.
"Acceptin' your true self is hard, but you ain't alone, man. You ain't alone."