Here comes chapter 12! The team rescues Kanji, and Morpheus gets a little more mysterious. Thanks again for reading, and enjoy!
His hands were sweaty. His face was sweaty. He felt like puking, but that would be bad. Very bad. How was it he was the one who ended up having to do this? Oh wait, that's right; Yu had been here with him, but then left for "reasons", as he had claimed, walking away.
Souji swallowed hard. He was standing outside the Junes entrance. The team had been searching for information so that Teddie could find Kanji Tatsumi, who'd been kidnapped two nights prior. Their investigation the day before had led them to believe they should search for Naoto Shirogane, who'd been seen hanging around inside Junes. He hadn't been there yesterday, though, so they had no choice but to wait until today to find him and ask about Kanji. And now here stood Souji. Alone. Feeling betrayed by his own brother. About to actually talk with his 'idol'. Yeah, this was gonna be just fine.
Souji shook his head, ridding himself of these thoughts. Kanji'd been kidnapped, and they needed information. Souji's personal problems weren't nearly as important as rescuing him from that bathhouse in the T.V. "Just imagine the look on Yosuke's face when we get there" he told himself, and the thought helped to clear away his inhibitions for a time. Steeling his nerves, Souji entered Junes, looking around. Naoto was standing off in a corner next to the elevators, head bowed in thought. Souji walked over to her, pushing the knot in his stomach down.
"Excuse me." He said, approaching the detective, who turned around at his voice. There were those eyes again, searching him as if he were a file.
"Is there something you need?" Naoto asked, finishing his observations of the silver-haired youth.
"Er…yeah, actually, there is. My friends and I were hoping to find Kanji Tatsumi…" Souji started, trying to find a reasonable excuse without lying. "We were interested in him after seeing that special on T.V, but we couldn't actually talk to him the past few days, and now he seems to have disappeared."
Naoto nodded. "Yes, I'd noticed that myself." he said, eyes searching the silverette, looking for something.
Souji sighed inwardly. This was a little harder than he thought. "I was wondering if you'd noticed anything…strange about him." he stated.
The boy's eyebrows raised a little, surprised at such a forward question. "Strange…?" he muttered, closing his eyes in thought. "Judging by that look on your face, this must be an urgent matter. I'll tell you simply." Naoto explained that something had seemed amiss with Kanji, and that he'd deduced it to possibly being a complex of some sorts. Souji nodded; Kanji seemed to behave strangely whenever he had been around Naoto, and had overreacted whenever he'd heard the word "strange".
"I see…" Souji muttered, eyebrows furrowed as he thought about this information.
Naoto took his moment of distraction to study the youth a little further. The silverette had seemed honest enough when he'd asked about Kanji, but something about him seemed suspicious. He'd been hanging out with the Amagi girl both times Naoto had seen him, but that could simply be because they were in the same class; prior research had showed Amagi's school information. But here he was, asking about Kanji Tatsumi, who'd recently gone missing, and who had appeared on a television special before, as the Amagi girl had before. Naoto had simply gone on a hunch, but this youth standing here seemed to be doing much the same as Naoto had done; collecting information on the exact same person.
The few seconds that had passed during this train of thought ended as Souji looked up, nodding firmly. "My thanks, Shirogane-sama. That information should help." Souji didn't wait for the Detective Prince's response and walked towards an open elevator, mind whirling in thought as he punched the floor number for the food court. Naoto was left there, looking somewhat surprised as the youth walked away.
"Shirogane…sama? What on earth?" Naoto shook his head, and turned around to leave; there was work to be done.
"Seriously, how much farther do we have to go?" Yosuke moaned, sweat pouring from his face. The rest of the team looked the same; even Teddie appeared to be sweating. The bathhouse steam seemed to be sapping them of their energy faster than usual. Souji asked Morpheus to use a small ice spell to help relieve the team of the heat. The Persona seemed happy to comply with the request, though Souji couldn't really tell; it was hard to register how this Persona felt about anything. Remembering the cryptic warning from Igor, Souji shuddered. Maybe he should come in alone some time to try to understand the mysterious Persona some more.
"Not much farther, Yosuke!" chirped Teddie, smiling as a wave of cold washed over him. "Kanji smells really close!"
Yosuke shook his head. "How can you smell anything in this place?" the teen muttered, then flinched and yelped as the sound of laughter filled the air around them; sounding much like what they assumed to be Shadow Kanji and another, deeper voice enjoying themselves. Souji grimaced, enjoying the teen's reaction but feeling uncomfortable himself. This place was just freaky.
Yu leaned on his katana, not even registering that he'd heard the sound. The carefree teen had brought his headphones today, and had plugged them in after hearing the first round of laughter. Souji looked at him, bemused. Yu was lip singing along with one of his favorite songs, "True Story" by Rise Kujikawa. Souji shook his head, making a mental note to bring his own headphones the next time they entered the T.V world.
"This place suuucks!" moaned Chie, massaging one of her legs. Yosuke turned to respond, but then looked away hurriedly, blushing furiously as he met Chie's eyes. "These two just can't decide, can they?" Souji thought, grinning slightly. Yu had been coaching him a bit on understanding people more, and although he still didn't get it, he was able to restrain himself when it came to his usual attitude about things like this.
Sighing, Souji adjusted his Tonfa straps, making sure they were firm. "Come on, everyone. We still have a ways to go with this." The team mumbled, standing up as they did so. Although they were tired, a look of determination crossed their faces. They'd worked hard to get to this point. To turn back for the day when Kanji was so close seemed a waste, especially when they weren't nearly as tired as they were uncomfortable. The sauna effect had sapped their energy a bit, but they weren't hurt badly, nor exhausted. The shadows in this place seemed relatively easy, but that was no surprise. The team had been going back to Yukiko's Castle to train before Kanji'd been kidnapped, and they had quickly been getting more and more used to the world around them; Yukiko and Chie had even discovered a special power that they could use when they combined their strength. Chie had dubbed it "Twin Dragons", in honor of the form the attack took. Souji nodded at the team behind him, Yosuke tapping Yu to get his attention and let them know they were moving on. Gathering their things, the team moved forward, cutting down the shadows in their path.
"Wow….he's big." Souji said, looking at the shadow in front of them. As per usual, Kanji had rejected his shadow, allowing it to become much more powerful. The part of the shadow that appeared human sat in the middle of a bed of roses, arms crossed in front of his chest, held close to his body. However, this bed of roses stood ten feet off the floor, as a large, masculine body encompassed it, holding two large metal weapons that looked like the symbol for males. Two other shadows were on either side of it, also very well-muscled as they took on the stance of bodybuilders. Shadow Kanji heard Souji's remark, and gazed at him with a winning smile.
"Oh my, such a forward complement. This body isn't all of me that's big…" he trailed off, smiling. Souji blanched as he realized what had just been said; Yosuke looked as if he were about to puke; Yu was still completely disconnected from reality by his music. The girls simply giggled a bit, in spite of their precarious situation.
"Why are we waiting around? Let's kick this thing back to kingdom come!" Yu said loudly, not realizing how loud he was due to his music. Souji nodded to his brother, who took it as a signal to attack, and ran forward alongside Izanagi, the two slashing their blades at Shadow Kanji. One of the other Shadows stepped in front of the attack, taking it in place of its master.
"Nice try, handsome, but you'll have to do better than that." Shadow Kanji smirked. A soft glow surrounded his body. "Let me show you what a manly attack really is!" he screamed. "Power Charge!" Shadow Kanji swung his fist at Yu, who narrowly avoided the attack. The fist continued its descent, obliterating the spot where Yu had just been standing. The other two shadows moved forward, grabbing Chie and Yukiko in a bear hug.
"Hey! Get your hands off of her!" Yosuke yelled, sending Jiraiya forward to try to assault the shadow. Jiraiya was knocked back by Shadow Kanji as he swiped his hand, as if swatting a fly. Yosuke grunted in pain, the feeling translating to his own body due to his connection with his Persona.
Souji tsk'd, annoyed with himself for just standing there. "Morpheus!" he yelled, willing his Persona to listen to him. Without receiving a verbal command, Morpheus understood his master's intention, and pointed his hand towards the shadow holding Chie. The shadow froze; literally. Morpheus then brought back his fist, flying towards the shadow. Throwing his fist forward, the Persona shattered the large shadow, freeing Chie from its grasp.
"Thanks, Souji!" the young girl yelled, not pausing as she ran to help Yukiko escape from her captor. Souji turned his attention to Kanji, who was giving his brother a difficult time as he fought to avoid the Shadow's powerful strikes.
Yosuke stood up, thanking his partner for rescuing Chie, then looked towards Shadow Kanji as well. An image formed in his head of a powerful blast of wind, and Yosuke grinned. "Jiraiya!" he yelled again, grinning as his Persona floated in front of him, ready to pay back the damage he'd had inflicted on him. "Garula!" Yosuke said, pointing his hand towards Shadow Kanji. The Persona thrust his hands in front of him, and a small tornado suddenly appeared under the Shadows feet, sending him stumbling as his legs were assaulted by the fierce winds, leaving scratches. "Grr…You know, you aren't as handsome as I thought!" growled Kanji's shadow, turning his back on Yu to face Yosuke. Yu grinned, seeing his opening. Souji cast Heat riser on his brother, anticipating Yu's intentions, and the youth sprung forward, holding his katana close to him.
"Izanagi, Rakunda!" he yelled as he rushed towards the enemy Shadow. The tall Persona pointed his blade towards its foe, and a purple light enveloped the shadow. "Huh?" it said, feeling the loss. Souji grinned, and began preparing a Megido to follow up Yu's attack. Chie and Yukiko came up behind him, having dealt with the other shadow that had been left.
"Go get 'em, Yu!" Chie cheered, with Yukiko and Yosuke following suit. Yu leaped, and Izanagi caught him in his hand. The Persona then threw the youth towards the Shadow, quickly moving in front of the Shadow to distract it. As Izanagi and the Shadow began grappling, The Shadow gasped. Yu had pointed his sword straight at the shadow, and embedded it deep into the Shadows back. As the shadow stumbled, Yu and Izanagi backed away, removing the katana as they did so.
Souji unleashed the prepared spell upon the Shadow. Shadow Kanji looked up, seeing the falling light bearing down on him. "Dammit!" it yelled, and became enveloped in light as the explosion covered it from head to toe, dealing a massive amount of damage to the Shadow. The team averted their eyes, and then looked back as the light faded.
"No way!" Yosuke yelled; the shadow was still standing, battered and leaning heavily on one of its weapons, but standing nonetheless.
"Hehehe…" it chuckled, raising a hand towards the team. "Now you've really gone and pissed me off." it said, energy crackling from the upraised hand. Lightning appeared above the group, threatening to strike.
"Oh crap!" Souji and Yosuke yelled in unison.
"Fanatical Spark!" screamed Shadow Kanji, and the lightning began striking the team, storming around them.
Yu had Izanagi protect Chie and Yukiko from the strike, taking some damage, but not enough to faze him. Yosuke and Souji tried their best to defend against the attack, with Morpheus intercepting the attacks from hitting Yosuke and his Persona as much as he could. After a short while the attack ended, and the team was panting.
"Crap, I don't have much left in me!" Yosuke said, looking beat as he fell back onto the floor, falling on his butt. The girls fell to the floor, exhausted. Yu and Souji both fell forward, Yu leaning heavily on his blade as he kneeled, Souji on hands and knees.
Suddenly, Souji stood back up, eyes glowing and body swaying slightly as he did so. Morpheus came to stand behind him, placing his gauntlet-hands on the boy's shoulders. Yu looked up, silver eyes staring death at the large shadow, which had been cackling and monologuing during its attack. Souji steadily raised one hand, a silver and purple mist swirling in his hands, and pointed it towards the shadow, who had noticed his enemies still lived.
"Oooh, you're a tough one, cutie! Too bad I have to put you down now!" The shadow raised his hands, lightning crackling as it prepared to repeat the same attack from before. It never got the chance.
The shadows face paled as the tendrils of mist began to creep forward, wrapping themselves around the Shadows arms and legs, pulling them close into the Shadows body. "Never…" Souji began quietly, anger in his eyes. "Never…hurt my friends…again." The tendrils squeezed tight. More mist poured forth from Souji's hand, taking the form of a ghastly creature. Whatever it was made the team gasp as they looked at it.
"N-No…how is that here?! I'm not sleeping!" Yosuke muttered. The girls were stammering, faces white as they stared at the misty figure.
A voice spoke in Souji's head. "All creatures fear something. Tis my duty to remind people of that which they fear. The proud fall to their knees before me in this form, the cowardly run at the sight of me. I…am Nightmare!" Souji looked upward; Morpheus was holding his black staff forward, the lightning pattern of the dreamcatcher head glowing brightly. Shadow Kanji stammered, then gasped as the misty figure reached forward, arm disappearing into the Shadows body.
Souji felt overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time as the misty figure disappeared, leaving Kanji's shadow to fall forward, the powerful form it had just had disappearing as it returned to its human form. Yu stared at his brother, eyes wide. Souji then swayed, and fell forward, feeling all of his energy drain away. Strong hands caught him.
"Easy there." said a low voice. Souji looked up, and stared in shock as he saw Kanji Tatsumi holding him up, a hard, concerned look on his features. "You okay?" he asked, to which Souji nodded his head.
"Yeah, I'm just a little tired, is all." Kanji helped Souji to his feet as the Investigation team and Teddie ran over, looking worried.
"Dude, what was that?!" Yosuke asked, looking at Souji. Souji shook his head; he had a major headache now.
"I'm not sure. It called itself Nightmare. I think Morpheus was directing it." The team's faces blanched.
"Well…that explains what I saw, I guess.'' Yosuke murmured, looking apprehensive.
"Kanji, are you okay?" Yukiko asked. "Did…'Nightmare' scare you as well?" she asked, concerned for the boy she'd known for years.
Kanji shook his head, looking bashful. "Er…no…I guess I was already facing my nightmare with that other me…" he suddenly remembered that he had another self, and looked around for it. The team followed suit, worried that it had disappeared. Kanji found it standing by itself, whimpering.
"I don't care who…won't someone…anyone, please accept me?" it said as the team and Kanji approached it. "Accept me for who I am!" it yelled. Kanji's face contorted in anger, and he threw a powerful punch at the Shadow's face.
"Kanji!" squeaked Yukiko, worried about the reappearance of the shadow from before.
"Get up." Kanji said sternly "Anyone who looks like me, I know they ain't so weak that they can't take a punch." Surprise crossed the twin's faces. This was unexpected.
"I already know that you're me. You're me, and I'm you, dammit." The shadow nodded, and faded away as a large Persona took its place. "Take-Mikazuchi." Kanji stated simply, and the Persona crossed its arms, nodding slightly as it faded away into Kanji's mind. Kanji turned around, smiling slightly. "That…felt good." He said, looking bashful.
Souji nodded, grinning. "We're glad you're okay, Kanji." He said. The team helped Kanji stand, as his legs buckled underneath him, and took him back to Junes to get him home. Their work was done for the day.