(I did a lot of very last minute tweaks; I encourage everyone to look for typos and I will totally fix them. There were also a few stray senteces that, after one revision, wouldn't fit with other sentences cause I took out what a character was referring to. Yes, that is confusing; that's why I hope it isn't a problem after so many revisions. xD)
You were initially filled with guilt while working at the hospital on Saturday, but you realized that you had a commitment. You polished the windows rather often to watch the weather; throughout the day, the sun was shining and clouds were nearly absent. It was too beautiful of a day for you to be worried.
You found yourself daydreaming often while at work, at least until someone called you to a specific room. That day, you were wondering what Yuni's Shadow was like. Unlike Rage, you barely knew her beforehand. But you were able to talk to her once... her habits of sneaking out, which were what led to her capture in the first place. Yet no one expected her to be caught in the TV world, especially when the Midnight Channel didn't function as a ransom note anymore. The hardest thing to get out of your mind was that Yuni's well-being had been placed in the hands of Akira, and the seemingly strong man had been rather torn about losing her. You knew you had to save Yuni, for both their sakes.
-.
Saturday morning, you met with Akira, Devil Zukin, and Rage in the TV room at Yuni's mansion.
"Hey Souji!" Rage shouted with excitement. "Look what I got!" He proudly held up a large shield. "I can bash some Shadows with this big thing!"
"And defend yourself as well," Zukin stated. "Now, if we're all ready, let's continue where we left off on Friday..."
-.
Once inside, Ouze took you to the last hallway. You looked to the others in your party to see if they were prepared. Zukin looked focused, Rage grinned back, and Akira was determined. You took their expressions as good signs and opened the doors.
Yuni was there, wearing the green maid outfit she probably used to initially escape the mansion.
"What kind of place is this?" Yuni yelled. "Stop saying 'action,' I can't do anything without any lines!"
"Action!" the director called. Yuni let out a dramatic groan.
"I am the queen of this kingdom," you heard Yuni's Shadow say. You couldn't see her, though; the back half of the room was pitch dark, but you could see a vague dark shape of a girl with glowing eyes sitting in a chair. "What brings you here today?"
"I just wanna know where I am!" the original replied.
"I see. Take a step closer, and everything will make sense."
"I tried that earlier, but I can't see anything up there. All that's back there is a big dark room with some crazy girl giving me orders."
"Cut!" the director said. "Let's try again..."
"Ugh!" Yuni grabbed her head and fell to the ground.
"Action!"
"I am the queen of this kingdom. What brings you here today?"
Yuni's speech was angry. "Where. Am. I?"
"There's a switch," Zukin commented, too softly for Yuni to hear. "It's rather high... she probably couldn't reach it. We need someone tall to reach it." You looked up; it was the right height for Akira.
"Take a step closer..."
Akira clicked the switch and the lights came on. Yuni stood up again upon seeing the Shadow that stared back at her.
"... and everything will make sense."
This time, Yuni walked up to her. Her Shadow stood up, whip in her right hand. She lightly tapped it against her leg as she met Yuni in the middle of the room.
"Tell me something about you," the copy requested.
"I uh... I look like you?" Yuni said. "That's really creepy, you know. Are you some kind of stalker?"
The Shadow shook her head. "That's not what you're supposed to say," she said. "Your lines are: 'I'm Yuni. I'm a 16-year-old actress with an attitude. Ever since I started his career, people have been sucking up to me and lying about who they are to get close to me, and I can't ruin my reputation without lying in return. No matter how rich and spoiled I get, I will always be at the mercy of the media and the people who pay me.'"
"H-huh?" Yuni was shocked. "What are you..."
"Then I say, 'why don't you do something about it? If you can't beat the people above you, rule over them. You want control of everything, after all, you spoiled brat.'"
Yuni stammered, with a mix of anger and confusion.
"Aren't you going to ask how I memorized your lines?"
Yuni crossed her arms. "Fine. How did you memorize my 'lines?'" she asked, putting heavy air quotes over "lines."
"Because I'm you."
Yuni tilted her head. "Who wrote this script?"
"The truth is, this part is real. What you're looking at is yourself."
"No way!" she said. "You look like me, but after all the crap you put me through for the past day, I can at least say I'm not as mean as you are!"
"I was just using you for my own entertainment," she argued. "You don't like being bored, do you?"
"Well, I don't use people like that to be entertained."
"Of course you do. You put yourself before everyone else. You lie to the media so they like you, and you break your way out of your mansion, worrying the people around you, just to have some fun. Turn around."
She agitatedly looked back, and she was startled to see you and your group.
"Wait... what's going on? Why is Akira here? And Zukin and Rage and," she snapped her hand a few times, "that new guy?"
"Those are the people you use," the Shadow said. "Every day. For entertainment, for protection... for whatever they'll do for you." The copy paused, giving Yuni a chance to think about it.
"'Gee, I don't have a selfless bone in my body,'" the Shadow continued. "Isn't that what I was about to say?"
"I... you... what? Agh, you're so confusing!"
"'Oh, what a temper I have! So many things I've wanted to shout at people, so many times I've had to lie to get people to like me... even to myself, just to believe I'm still a good person!' Isn't that right, me?"
Yuni flailed her arms violently for a second. "You're... I'm not... you're not me!"
The Shadow ducked her head and began cackling. Her voice was low and rose to Yuni's higher pitched feminine voice before sending a pulse that knocked Yuni over. Your group rushed to her side; she remained on the ground, unconscious.
"I will take her to safety," Zukin began, lifting the blonde girl, "the three of you should prepare for battle."
You eyed Rage and Akira before you each summoned a Persona.
"Benkei!"
"Lu-yan!"
"Norn!"
As the Personas materialized to help you, clouds of shadow swirled around the former copy. When they faded, you saw that the Shadow took the form of a large, questionably overweight queen with a black dress and a fuzzy red cape rested on her shoulders and over her back. Jewelry was draped around most of her body: her head, her neck, and the belt around her waist. Her pointed demonic eyes glared at your small army.
"Three against one?" Shadow Yuni's distorted voice complained. "I won't allow that. Come, my slaves!"
She snapped a whip to the ground, and two armored knights came to guard her. She stretched the whip in front of her, as if holding some sort of wand, and cast a spell on them.
"Their defense increased," Zukin clarified. "Be careful."
"What should we do?" Akira asked you. "Should we start with her, or should we take them out first?"
You didn't know if Shadow Yuni could summon more or not. You asked Akira and Rage if they could take down the Shadow while you covered the knights.
"If you say so," Akira agreed. "I'll try my best." He pulled out his gun and ran for Yuni's Shadow. Rage gave you a thumbs up and wished you good luck before heading to Shadow Yuni.
Meanwhile, you had Norn cast Magarudyne on both of the knights. The energy of the wind attack impaled both of them but didn't seem to do much with their thick armor. You had Norn cast Debilitate to bring their stats back to normal; this lowered their extra defense. Afterward, you saw that your attacks were doing a greater amount of damage. You could only hope that the others were keeping Shadow Yuni too busy to grant them extra power again, and judging by the sounds of gunshots, fire, and electricity, you thought they were successful.
"AAH!"
"Akira!"
You heard Akira scream! Following his cry for help and Rage's shout, you heard the gunman slam on the ground. You had your hands tied with the knights, and you asked Zukin if she had any idea how much of their stamina remained.
"One is weakened by wind!" she answered. "But they're moving too fast. It's impossible to tell you which one it is."
Wanting to retain your spirit power, you carefully watched the knights as you bombarded them with wind attacks. The one closer to your right was stumbling more, and you could tell that he was nearly about to die. You blasted him with Garudyne and he fell down, unwilling to get up.
It was a mistake.
While Norn's abilities filled you with extra power, the other knight had run off to cast his own spell. You saw a small bright light emit from his sword and transfer to Shadow Yuni. The spoiled Shadow abused Rage's Persona while Akira still lay helpless on the ground, Lu-Yan nowhere in sight.
"He restored her health," Zukin told you, "get him!"
You saw that Rage's flailing style was no match for Shadow Yuni's whips and wind spells. Quickly mustering up a plan, you shouted at Rage to trade places with you.
"Huh? Whatever you say," he yelled back, ready to assist you. You ran to Shadow Yuni and he bolted to the remaining knight. You knew Norn could absorb wind, but more importantly, you had to help Akira. You needed a resurrection spell, and so you thought of the ultimate Persona of the Lovers arcana...
"Ishtar!"
The beautiful horned woman in white garments appeared to protect you, but you let her know that she needed to help Akira first. Ishtar revived Akira with Samarecarm, so that he was back to his full self again. When he began to stand up, he was notably confused.
"I thought I," he began, but you told him you were still in battle and you needed his help. There was little you could do with Ishtar besides absorb one of Shadow Yuni's wind spells, so you commanded Akira to attack while you switched for someone else. He called his dragon Persona again and chose to combat Shadow Yuni physically. The Shadow was apparently rather sluggish, and Lu-Yan stalled her in time for you to summon Loki.
"Hey, don't forget about me!"
Rage had apparently finished off the other knight and led Benkei behind Shadow Yuni. You and Akira spread out, and the three of you formed a sort of triangle around the queen.
"Hey? What's going on? S-stop it, I say!" she tried to command you.
Agilao...
Zionga...
Bufudyne...
All at once, your Personas launched waves of fire, thunder, and ice. The fire burned out just before the ice, and the Shadow was both burned and frozen in an ice cube. Rage let out a battle cry and Benkei bashed the block open, shattering the ice and knocking out Yuni's Shadow once and for all.
"It's over," Zukin announced.
"All right!" Rage shouted. "We took down our first real Shadow as a team!"
"We can't celebrate just yet," Akira said calmly.
You and the other men went to check on Yuni, who was still next to Devil Zukin. The bat girl tried to help Yuni stand.
"Anybody wanna explain what just happened?" Yuni asked, holding her head for a little bit. "Not to be... rude or anything..." She looked guilty.
"She was acting like you," Zukin said. "Do you not believe that?"
Humiliated, she quickly scanned your concerned faces before looking at the ground. "I... wish she hadn't said..."
"Please talk to her," Zukin asked, "and tell her you understand."
Yuni glanced at the Shadow, who was standing in the middle of the room. The real Yuni spoke as she walked closer.
"I don't want to lie," she started, "but I do anyway. I always want people to like me for me and not my money, but I don't even let my true self show sometimes. Because if I did, they'd see that I'm just a bossy spoiled rich girl. I wanted to lie about all that, but it's too late now that everyone found out, so there's no denying it anymore. You were just good at acting like me because you are me, and only I can play the role of myself."
The Shadow was accepted, and it floated in the air. The copy of Yuni had transformed in a flash of light, resulting in a pale and long haired Persona clad in black and purple ninja attire with pointed toes and claws. She faded into card form and fell gently into Yuni.
Excitedly, your team rushed to Yuni's side.
After the card sank into her soul, Yuni's hand remained up, as if holding something invisible. "That girl," she rambled, "I think her name is... Tsutomu." She began to faint, but Zukin and Akira caught her. The bat girl handed Yuni to the bodyguard.
"Let's get out of here," Akira suggested.
You led the others to the spot of light to take you out of the building...
-.
Yuni managed to recover some strength after leaving the TV. She rested on the couch and set a few pillows against one of the arm rests and rested her head on them. She lay on her back, facing the ceiling.
"I need a nap," she complained. "Hey, what's today, anyway?"
You told her it was Sunday.
"Huh really? Last I remembered, it was... Wednesday, I think." She moaned. "That means I gotta go back to school tomorrow..."
"Rest, then," Akira lightly ordered. "If you're missing much longer, people will start to suspect something.
"Shouldn't they?" Yuni argued. "I mean, someone just kidnapped me! The police should be after that... that jerk!"
"I thought the same thing," Rage said, "but Souji's been over this before. The police aren't gonna believe you or anyone was in the TV without some solid proof."
"If we make this public, the kidnapper might make a more elaborate plan to get rid of us," Akira said. "As long as we lay low, we should be safe."
"But our survival must prove that we're getting out," Zukin said. "Surely, that will raise suspicions."
"The point is," Rage said, "getting the police involved won't do any good. We gotta handle this on our own. Agreed?"
You and everyone else seconded his proposal.
"Anyway," Yuni said. "Sorry guys, but this is getting noisy... any chance you can carry on this conversation another day?"
You apologized for keeping her, and you realized that you needed to get home and study as well. You said your goodbyes to everyone and followed Zukin and Rage out the door.
"Wait, Souji."
Akira stopped you just as you were outside the door. He went out of the room and closed the door behind him. The bat girl and takoyaki chef looked back, but they continued walking after noticing the call wasn't for them.
"I wanted to thank you for helping me save Yuni," he said. "And for saving me. Without you, I never would've..."
You told him it was no problem. You were happy to be the leader, and you thanked him for fighting alongside you in the end.
Akira nodded. "Right. I'd be honored to continue to help."
Like that, Akira trusted you. You saw what looked like a smile just before you felt another social link form between you two. As time locked for a moment, you could tell that you'd earned his trust.
You smiled back at him and told him you had to get going. He waved goodbye, and you made your way down the hallways and out the door, heading back to your dorm.
(I just now realized that Agi plus Bufu plus Zio equals Tri Attack from Pokemon and that is pretty awesome in a nerdy way. Did not plan that, I just liked Loki.)