"Why is... why am I here?" Akira asked.

The copy that stood in the cell was definitely Akira's Shadow. He was gripping tightly onto the bars. How he materialized behind a place neither you nor Akira had been was a mystery, but that didn't matter.

"You guys, save me," the Shadow begged, "I don't want to be here anymore!"

The two of you didn't know what to do. There was no lock and no door to open, just bars.

"We... can't," Akira told the Shadow. "Souji, what do we do?"

A bit puzzled, you asked the Shadow how he got there.

"I've been here ever since that... that witch put me here," the Shadow grumbled. "She wants me to be her slave; she's always ordering me around and neglecting me... I just want to get out of here!"

Akira raised a pointed eyebrow. "What witch?"

"You know, Yuni!"

Akira gritted his teeth. "Don't talk about her like that."

"It's the truth!" the Shadow yelled. "You know it!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Akira denied.

At this time, you noticed Devil Zukin had shown up. The prisoner's raised voice must've made him easier to find.

"To her, I'm just a pet," the Shadow vented, clenching tighter onto the bars. "She only likes having me around when she wants me for something. I'm just being used by her, controlled by her..."

"You're exaggerating far too much," the real Akira argued.

"But you've been thinking it, haven't you?" his Shadow taunted. "She doesn't see you as a person, nothing like the way you see her. You're stuck with her, even if she treats you like trash."

"She's not like that."

"She most certainly is. Any act of kindness is just an act itself... you, of all people, would know that she's full of lies."

He gave Akira a chance to comment, but he didn't. The Shadow continued.

"Upstairs, right now, her true self is holding a whip, waiting for you to get up there so she can strike you with it and be completely in control. But you want to go up there, and you want to take it from her and punish her for being the spoiled brat she is, don't you?"

"Shut up!" he yelled. "I told you not to talk about her like that!"

"Admit it!" the Shadow said. "That's what I want, and that means that's what you want!"

"I don't!" he yelled. "You aren't me!"

The Shadow possessed a menacing grin.

"Look out!" Zukin shouted. She pulled Akira toward the doorway and you ran behind them, just before the Shadow bashed the bars hard enough to send them flying forward, barely missing you. The Shadow stepped out of his cell and turned toward your slightly fearful team.

"Finally," he said, "finally... I'm free!"

He stretched out his arms, as if catching a mass amount of power. Dark auras circled around him and engulfed him. The auras merged and grew in size; when they dissipated, Akira's Shadow had become a reptile, wearing a very torn shirt too small for him and torn pants. There were broken shackles around his ankles and wrists.

"Akira!" Zukin shouted at the original, who was resting on the floor, probably unconscious. You told her you needed her help to beat this Shadow, and she obeyed by calling Ouze.

To hold off the monster, you summoned Loki. You used Niflheim to freeze the monster, as well as deal a mass amount of icy damage.

"I won't..." the demon muttered, head sticking out from ice. He trembled and managed to break open the wall of ice. "I won't be trapped anymore!"

The monster extended razor sharp claws from his fingers and tried to slash you. You trusted Loki, and the Persona managed to counter the attack. The Shadow stumbled backward but continued a slashing Rampage attack. Loki took two hits for you, and you rushed around he and the Shadow to deliver a slash to the monster's back. As he hissed in pain, Loki casted Bufudyne to refreeze the monster.

"No," Zukin said, "ice is not the most effective... I think you should try using wind..."

You were hesitant to lose Loki's High Counter ability, but you listened to your ally and switched him for Norn. During the summon, the monster charged in your direction. His right arm was high behind his back, ready to strike. You hurriedly commanded Norn to use Garudyne and blew the monster away, back into the cell it had just broken out of. You hard a loud crash as it hit the wall, and dust and debris began to float out. You realized the monster was terribly weak to wing and wasn't coming back out, so you rushed to Akira's side. Devil Zukin stopped channeling Ouze and went to help as well.

Akira stirred a little.

"Are you all right?" Zukin asked softly.

"I... think so," the man replied. "What happened to me...?"

"If you mean yourself, you were knocked out," Zukin answered. "If you mean your Shadow... he is over there." She pointed to the broken cell.

Akira said nothing and made his way to the cell. The dust seemed to be dying down, but he waved the flying smoke-like debris away from his face. You and Zukin watched him from behind. His Shadow, back in a form that resembled Akira, was sitting at the back of the crumbled wall, head facing the floor in defeat.

"You want to be free, don't you?" Akira began. "You want people to stop using you? I know... I don't say anything but... I always feel like I'm being used. Not just by Yuni... by others, by people who treat me more like a slave or a pet than a human. You knew that, and it drove you so insane that you became a monster." He paused. "But you can rejoin me now. You are a part of me, after all."

The Shadow stood for a moment to face Akira before it rose and created a shining aura that briefly blinded Akira. When the light faded, the Shadow was replaced with an anthropomorphic dragon wearing an armored sleeveless shirt and dark pants. The dragon then faded into a card form and floated into Akira's soul. The man gently caught the falling card and accepted it.

You and Zukin walked up to him and asked what the Persona's name was.

"I heard the name... Lu-Yan," he said. "I think that's his name."

You commended him on accepting his other self. You asked him if he wanted to continue exploring the dungeon.

Akira thought about it for a moment. "I think we could go farther... the question is, are you all right? While I was out... you had to take down that monster, didn't you?"

You thought about your own condition, but you promised to take him as far as the room before Yuni. You knew you would be unable to fight another powerful Shadow, but as long as you made it to the end, you could continue from there the next time you were in.

-.

On the next-highest floor, the room was dark. There was a false night sky above your group, and you seemed to be in some sort of park with a sidewalk path through a few trees and benches. You decided to stay on the path. Your team traveled in an awkward silence (besides the sounds of different types of shoes hitting the ground) for a few minutes.

You soon ran into a fork in the road. Instinctively, you ran to the right until you heard voices to your left...

"Hey, come back," a boy said, "I'm not trying to scare you."

"I'm not scared," a girl said, "I just... don't want to be here."

"Don't you like me?"

"I... I don't..."

Akira gasped. "That's... that's Yuni!"

He ran off to the left sidewalk, and you and Zukin seemingly had no choice but to follow him. The boy kept talking.

"Now, now, don't do anything you don't want the press to know about. Just do what I say, and I won't tell them anything bad..."

"I-I'm sorry, I don't trust you, even if-"

"You don't have to trust me, just do what I say!"

Akira ran at full speed and pulled the gun out of its holster. He readied it at his side, while you and Zukin struggled to keep up. You prepared your sword as you dashed across the sidewalk.

Akira screeched to a halt upon seeing that the sidewalk led to a wall at the end of the room. He cursed something under his breath.

"Yuni!" he shouted. "Where are you?"

"Go away!" her voice echoed. "Go away, you fakes and liars! You all just want something from me! I don't need you!"

"It was a lure," Devil Zukin said. "Those voices... they were taking us here so that we would- ahh!" A monster hit her on her side. You and Akira were worried for a second until she rolled on the ground and tripped the creature before kicking it in the face.

You looked up and noticed you were being cornered by thin alien-like monsters. Their faces were missing features, but they possessed a single circular camera lens in the middle. Some had bright lights instead of lenses, and those creatures tried to shine in your eyes.

You noticed Devil Zukin was too occupied physically fighting off monsters to call Ouze. You shouted to Akira to use his Persona.

"Right now?" he said through gunshots. He tried to focus, but he panicked too much to release his power. You ran to protect him, slashing at enemies that were in your way. You knew your team wouldn't get anywhere trying to fight so many enemies, and you believed that Akira could use his Persona if he had the chance. Once you knocked several enemies away, you commanded him to try again.

"P... Persona!"

You heard another gunshot, probably because he shot the shot the card Lu-Yan was stored in. The dragon appeared behind you, and while you couldn't see what was going on, you noticed several electric bolts shoot from above. A step below Maziodyne; he likely used Mazionga.

The attack electrocuted the camera and light monsters, as if shorting out their circuits. They began to explode before your eyes in loud crashes before fading into Shadow dust.

Panting, you congratulated Akira on his successful summon. He looked rather nervous, but proud.

"I came to be of help," he said, "glad I was useful."

"Useful," Zukin began," and not used... correct?" She sounded as if she was checking up on him.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "It wasn't because you didn't want to finish them off; you believed in me. Thank you, Souji."

You modestly told him you didn't need thanks, but you were interrupted by Yuni's echoing voice.

"Why?" she asked. "Why are you coming closer? Don't come any closer or I'll punish you all!"

You saw Akira grin. "That sounds like an invitation," he said. "Let's keep going."

You and the others backtracked to the fork and took the correct path that time, until it led you to another set of stairs. You saw that you were in a small hallway, similar to the last room in Yukiko's castle. The walls and floors were covered in elegant red patterns, and there were two large adjacent doors in front of you.

Once up to that floor, Zukin became alert.

"This is the final floor," she said, "I can sense Yuni over there."

Akira began to run in front of you, but you put a hand on his shoulder (which was hard to reach, as it was much higher than your shoulder). You told him the battle would have to wait. Yuni's Shadow was powerful, and the three of you probably wouldn't survive. You wanted to bring Rage back as well.

Akira looked you in the eye during your explanation, but he turned away after you were done. He moved his shoulder as if to shake off your hand, which you pulled back to yourself.

"I trust Souji's plan," Devil Zukin advised. "When Rage was captured, we left him alone for another day, and he was rescued in time. As long as it doesn't rain, Yuni will be there, waiting for you tomorrow."

...!

You made a gulping noise and Zukin gave you a concerned yet confused look. You reluctantly told them that you had to work tomorrow, during the late afternoon. You remembered in your last adventure that any trip into the television would leave you far too tired to go out and work, and you could never guarantee what time you would be out of the TV. You told them you would be unable to lead them in the television the next day, but you swore that Yuni would be okay.

"You could," Akira started to suggest, but he never finished his sentence, "no... I'll respect your decision. But you know... this will be hard on me." He tried to mask his pain with a sarcastic smile, but the way his voice trembled a little bit indicated he was worried, and he was likely still angry at himself for letting her get caught at all.

You reassured him that he didn't need to worry. But surely, you couldn't dismiss a person's uncertainty in words...

Ouze appeared and wrapped the three of you in a warm light. You teleported back to the TV set you came in from, and your team dove back through the television screen to get out.

(I doubt it's canon, but Akira was fun to write.)