Hey all! This chapter is focusing more on the fight with Shadow Yosuke and a quick summary of the events afterward. If the fight seems a little rushed, I apologize. I was listening to Yu's theme from P4A as I wrote it, so I might have been a little overexcited. Enjoy! **note** I went back and changed this to be chapter 7. decided it was a little stupid to split them like that. it works as a standalone.
They walked into the liquor store, hearing voices all around them, but no one else was there. Yosuke recognized the loudest of the voices as Saki's and ran over to the stores' counter, looking around. Recognizing one of the photos that was scattered on the counter, Yosuke picked it up, gazing at it intently. It was cut up all over, leaving only the images of two people unharmed; Saki and Yosuke.
"That's the photo we took with the other part times at Junes the other day! Why's it cut up like this?" Yosuke asked, staring at the photo.
"I…never had the chance to say it….I always wanted to tell Hana-chan…that he was a real pain in the ass." Yosuke looked up at the sound of Saki's voice, hopeful at first, but his face contorted in pain as she went on. "I was only nice to him because he was the store managers' son, that's all. But he takes it completely the wrong way and gets all enthusiastic. What a dip!" Saki's words had a visible effect on Yosuke, who began to tear up as he listened. "Who cares about Junes anyway? Because of that store, our business is ruined, my parents hate me, the neighbors talk behind my back…I wish everything would just disappear!"
Yosuke looked down, crying now. "I-It's a lie…this can't be…Senpai's not like that!" As he finished, another voice spoke up, but it sounded different, like it was actually there in the room.
"It's so sad…I feel so sorry for myself…Boohoo!" it said, and the boys turned around, gasping at what they saw. Another Yosuke stood by one of the tarps hanging from the ceiling, acting as if he was crying, but a sardonic smile lay upon his face.
"Actually, I'm the one who thinks everyone's a pain in the ass!" The other Yosuke cackled.
"Two Yosuke's?" Souji murmured as they ran over to face the other Yosuke.
"Who are you?" the real Yosuke yelled, fear and anger in his eyes. "I wouldn't think that!"
The other Yosuke cackled again, seeming to relish Yosuke's denial. "Yeah, right!" it said, grinning at Yosuke as it continued. "How long are you going to keep deluding yourself? Screw the shopping district, and Junes too! You're sick of everything, especially living out in the sticks!" Yosuke stammered a denial, but the other continued. "You put on a good show of being carefree and happy-go-lucky, 'cause you're so terrified of being alone! The more the merrier, right? You've got to be surrounded by people to block out the pain of isolation. And what's this about checking out this world for Saki-senpai's sake? Hah! I know the real reason you came snooping…" The shadow grinned evilly at Yosuke, preparing its next words.
"S-Stop it!" Yosuke yelled, trying to head off the other Yosuke, but to no avail.
The other cackled again. "Why so panicked? I thought I was just spouting bullshit! Or maybe…I DO know everything you're thinking! Why's that? Because…I AM you! You just came because you thought it sounded like a good time! What else is there to do out in this shithole? A world inside the T.V—now that's exciting! You didn't have a single other reason for coming here, did you!?" The shadow continued its tirade.
"Th-That's not true…Stop it!" Yosuke mumbled half-heartedly.
"You're just trying to act like a big shot. Hey, if it all goes well, maybe you'd even be a hero!"
The other's face darkened as he smiled even deeper. "Yeah, Yosuke the hero! Maybe you could finally impress the girl that you actually DO like! Saki was just a replacement, after all!" Yosuke looked up, eyes wide in fear. "N-no, d-d-don't say it!" he squeaked out, but the shadow just laughed even harder. "That's right, I know everything! The only reason you tried to go after Saki-senpai was because you couldn't get Chie's attention! Every time you tried, you'd just screw up, and it didn't help when Yukiko was around; whenever you tried to talk to her, Chie would take it the wrong way and hate you even more! Then you had to go and break one of her favorite movies! You didn't even comfort her today, and she looked like she was about to cry!"
The other cackled once more, delighted in the pain Yosuke displayed. "That's not true!" Yosuke yelled, trying to stand up to the other Yosuke. "What are you?! Who are you?!"
The other only chuckled. "I already told ya. I'm you…your Shadow…there's nothing I don't know about you!" The twins looked at each other. They had just fought shadows outside. Were there more shadows? Ones that could take human form? The silverettes shuddered, looking at Shadow Yosuke with apprehension.
"Screw that! I don't know you!" Yosuke yelled even louder. "You can't be me, you son of a bitch!"
The shadow laughed maniacally, and it looked Yosuke dead-on. "That's right!" it shouted, "Say it again!"
Yosuke stepped back. "You're not me! You're nothing like me!" he stammered.
"That's right. I am ME now." The shadow scoffed. "I'm not you anymore, see?"
The shadow glowed dimly as black blobs began flying towards it, melding it. As the walls of the liquor store fell down around them, Teddie ran back, and the twins called their Persona's, anticipating the danger ahead. A flash of light revealed what Yosuke's had become. A large frog sat in front of them, standing a head taller than the twins. Growing out of its back was a large black figure, a red scarf wrapped around its neck, with long shadowy arms ending in yellow-gloved hands, star shaped eyes gleaming. The twins looked at each other, and moved forward to engage the shadow. Yosuke had fainted, and Teddie dragged him back to protect him as Souji and Yu began their assault.
The shadow spoke haughtily. "I am a Shadow…the true self….I'll crush everything that bores me, starting with you two!" The shadow leapt into the air, and slammed into the ground, unleashing a gust of wind that threw Yu backwards, causing him to fall on his back. Souji braced himself against a near wall, resisting the gale as much as possible. Morpheus pulled his robe around Souji, protecting the youth from the brunt of the attack, but Yu's persona seemed to be having a hard time, desperately trying to stand as Yu did. The shadow laughed, loafing around as it celebrated its own attack.
"Cocky bastard" Yu grunted, finally regaining his footing. Looking at Izanagi, an image of lightning flashed through his mind. He pointed his hand towards the Shadow, and yelled out. "Zio!" Izanagi flew up, pointing his sword at the Shadow, and an arc of electricity flew from the tip, slamming into their foe, knocking him down.
As it struggled to get up, Souji pointed his hand towards Yu, feeling a massive amount of energy drain from him as he did so. "Heat Riser!" he shouted, and Yu looked at his brother, a smile playing on his face.
"That feels…good" he said, and looked back at the struggling shadow. "Come on, Izanagi!" he shouted, and leapt forward. Yu brought the head of his golf club down upon the Shadow, causing it to recoil a bit as it hit hard. Izanagi came flying by as Yu jumped backwards, and rammed his sword into the Frogs mouth, ripping it open.
"Graaagh!" screamed the shadow, pain causing some confusion. It looked murderously at the silverettes, and leapt up once more.
"Yu, guard now!" Souji yelled, following his own advice. Yu nodded, and held his club across his body in front of him, bracing for impact. Izanagi did the same, covering the teen with the hilt of his sword as he held it in a similar style to Yu's stance. The shadow came crashing down again, unleashing yet another gale upon its foes, but neither teen flew back as Yu had earlier. Resisting the wind once more, Yu yelled out for another arc of electricity, and Izanagi complied, sending forth bolt after bolt as the shadow danced around, trying to dodge the attacks. Souji yelled out "Bufu" and touched the floor. Morpheus knelt down, and ice began to spread under the Shadow's feet, causing it to slip up.
Multiple bolts of lightning slammed into it as it tripped, paralyzing it for a brief moment. Yu and Souji looked at each other and nodded, and both teens dashed forward, their Personas swiftly following. Yu yelled as he jumped up, swinging the golf club as hard and as fast as he could, smacking the Shadow across its head, while Souji cast another ice spell, locking the Shadow in place. Izanagi and Morpheus flew up high, and then came barreling down at the belly of the frog; Izanagi's blade gleaming as he extended it in front of him; one of Morpheus' clawed gauntlets reached out, spread in a knife-hand to spear the shadow. Both Persona's found their mark, and held on tight as the Shadow thrashed, desperately trying to throw them off, but Souji's ice held firm.
Slowly, it began to stop moving, and the two Personas leapt off, returning to their respective masters. The form of the frog and shadow-figure disappeared, leaving behind the Shadow-Yosuke to fall on his face. The twins breathed heavily, sweat pouring from their faces. Yosuke groaned as he woke up, rubbing his head. Teddie looked down, and the twins ran over.
"Yosuke, are you okay?" the bear asked, concern in his voice.
"Yeah…what happened?" Yosuke asked, but he suddenly remembered and turned around. His shadow had stood up, and was gazing sadly at the teen. "You…You're not me…" Yosuke said, and the shadow twitched, but otherwise remained calm.
Teddie spoke up softly, attempting to comfort Yosuke as he informed him. "That thing came from you, Yosuke. You have to admit it, or it'll go berserk again." The brunette looked down, reluctant to admit the truth of his shadow.
"Hey, Yosuke." Yu said, snapping Yosuke out of his reverie. "We all have something we don't want to admit about ourselves. It doesn't make us bad people, it just makes us human. If we can't accept that about ourselves, we won't be able to grow and move forward. We'll…just get stuck in the past."
Yosuke nodded, a wry smile forming across his face. "Yeah, you're right." he said, and moved forward to confront his shadow. "I knew it wasn't lying" Yosuke started, more to himself than anyone else. "But, I was so ashamed 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." The shadow nodded, smiling warmly.
Its body disappeared, replaced by a tall figure in white, a red scarf wrapped around its neck, its black head vaguely reminiscent of a frogs. Its hands had spinning shuriken attached, and it nodded as Yosuke spoke its name. "Jiraiya" he said, and the Persona disappeared. Yosuke fell forward, and the twins and Teddie rushed forward, helping him back up.
"Let's go back home" Souji said, wiping his face off. "Yeah, I feel tired." Yosuke said, nodding. Yu wrapped on of Yosuke's arms around his shoulder to support his friend while Souji asked Teddie to lead them back.
"You guys came back!" Chie cried, rising from her position on the floor, tears streaming down her face.
"Ch-Chie!" Yosuke stammered, looking at the twins as he remembered what his shadow had said earlier. The twins gazed in the opposite direction, whistling lightly.
Chie threw the rope bundle she held at Yosuke hard, knocking him back. "Th-The nerve of you guys! You are such morons!" she hiccupped, a swirl of emotions raging inside her all at once.
"Ow!" Yosuke yelped, rubbing his stomach where the rope had hit. "Chie, I-We're sorry…" he said, looking at Chie. Her head was down, and tears were visible on the Junes floor as she continued to cry.
"S-Steak…" she muttered softly. Yosuke looked up.
"What?" he asked, confused.
"Y-you owe me steak. A good one!" Chie stammered, and Yosuke started nodding
"Of course, Chie. Sorry we worried you like that." Chie sniffed, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, then stepped forward, hugging each of the boys tightly, lingering slightly longer on Yosuke than the twins. Afterwards, she stormed off, shoulders still shaking.
Yu turned to Souji, who was shooing him. A quick look at Yosuke, who had sat down against the T.V stand for support, answered the question Yu had been about to voice, and he nodded. "I'm going to make sure Chie's alright, then head home." he said, nodding as Souji gave him a small smile. "I'll see you at home, bro" Yu said, and left to catch up with Chie. Souji sat down next to Yosuke, and the two shared a few silent moments together.
Souji turned his head to look at his friend. "Hey, Yosuke…" he started, getting the brunettes attention.
"What's up?" Yosuke asked, sighing from exhaustion.
"Back there, in the liquor store….your shadow said some stuff about Chie…" Souji trailed off, the unspoken question hanging in the air. Yosuke shuddered, but smiled as he thought about it.
"Yeah, I know. Like I said, everything that thing said was true, even if I didn't want to admit it." He shook his head lightly. "I guess if you're asking about that, you're interested in her too?" the teen asked, turning to Souji with a guarded look.
Souji smiled and shook his head. "Nope." He said cheerfully. "Not at all." Yosuke smiled, but caught himself and nodded. "I see…" he said, looking thoughtful. But the look faded with his next words. "Not like it matters though. Doesn't matter whether or not I admit it to myself if the feeling isn't mutual."
Souji raised an eyebrow at that. "What makes you think it isn't?" he asked, choosing his words carefully.
Yosuke shrugged. "Dunno" he stated simply. "Just seems unlikely, given how we talk to each other.
"You talk like a married couple, though I guess I don't have any examples of one to base that off of." Souji thought, his emotion turning dark as he finished the thought. "I wouldn't be so sure, man." Souji said, looking forward. "Even if you don't think she feels the same way, you can't be sure unless you put yourself out there." Yosuke let out a short bark of laughter, and looked up.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." he rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey…thanks man. For everything."
Souji grinned. "Anytime, partner."
Yosuke sighed. "I think…I'm going to sleep well tonight."
"Took you long enough" Yu smiled as his brother walked in. Souji nodded slowly, feeling the exhaustion set in from the day.
"How was Chie?" he asked, throwing off his uniform and shirt.
"About as well as you'd expect." was Yu's response, as he laid out both twin's uniforms for the next day. "Yosuke okay?" he asked as Souji threw on his sleepwear.
"Mhmm." Souji hummed his response, settling down in his futon.
"I saw Yukiko on the way back." remarked Yu as he got dressed for bed.
"Something happen?" Souji asked, looking at his twin.
"No, didn't seem like it." was his response. "She seems to be really busy at the inn though. Wonder what's up." Yu turned off the lights and settled into his own futon, sighing contently.
"Whatever it is, it can wait a while." Souji quipped, earning a quick laugh form his brother. "I'm gonna have to agree with Yosuke. I'm going to sleep well tonight." Yu chuckled softly, and wished his brother a goodnight as they drifted off, exhaustion taking them to their dreams.