Miss Hanamura's A/N: Wellll, had testing, and all today, and when I got home, I felt the sudden need to write something (Thanks Jesse McCartney! *shot*). So, while the muse is in me, thought I'd go ahead with the next chapter. (But then I lost it when I started listening to music… asdfghjkl; I'm so easily distracted…)
Like most of mine, this is in Erin's perspective.
The chapter title was inspired by the song, "Not Alone" by Family Force 5, which I spammed a lot while writing this. It's fitting though, right?
After replenishing their HP and SP levels, our heroes traveled back into the dungeon, breathing in white smoke, and harlequin. What came with that was renewed strength, and Erin felt more than capable to save him...
Could she even call him a friend?
Maybe…. The only time they had really spoken was during the School Trip, and that was because she wanted to apologize for her friend's drunken behavior the night before.
"An apology isn't necessary, but the fact that you approached me with one tells me you possess more maturity than some of the… Other people you associate with." Is what he had told her, and although it wasn't much of a compliment, it made her heart flutter, nonetheless.
"T-They're good people, honestly! If it weren't for them, I'd…" She stopped herself short, trailed off into silence, but Naoto didn't seem to notice. Either that or he didn't know how to respond. He briefly wished her a goodnight before all but slamming the door in her face.
A little rude, but she understood the need for privacy…
Suzaku approaches her; his green eyes haunting even behind the dark visor glasses he's wearing.
"It won't help Naoto-kun if we get ourselves killed deriding his dungeon." He was always like that, thorough, analytical; he saw everything black and white. There was nothing in between.
She must've zoned out, or else he wouldn't have said anything. She gave him a quick nod in reply.
"I'm sorry… I guess I'm just a little anxious."
He smiles; like everything he did it was subtle, but enough to alleviate her nerves, "Don't worry; if anyone can do this, it's us."
"Right!"
They had made it to the 4th floor, the one that housed the battered locked door, and Yu used the Research ID they found on it. The door eases open for them, and they easily take out the Shadows inside. But when they venture towards the next door, they can feel the atmosphere shift all too easily.
Rise's worried voice echoes through them, "Be careful! I sense a strong presence beyond this door!"
"Alright, we're going in." Yu heaves a sigh as he resumes the lead. A large, mechanical robot blocks their path, and they all take up offensive poses, ready to fight it.
After defeating the machine, they're rewarded with another keycard, which they use on the 7th floor. It wasn't until they had reached the 9th floor that Rise alerted them that she felt someone's presence.
'This must be it… Naoto-kun's behind here.'
Erin bravely opens the door first, and the others follow behind her. In front of them is an operating table—the same one they saw on the Midnight Channel—various sharp instruments, and a strong light hanging overhead. Naoto is standing in front of a carbon copy of himself, except this one has golden yellow eyes and a lab coat much too big for its petite body.
"Naoto-kun!"
Naoto turns them nonchalantly, "Ah, it's about time you showed up. Dealing with this child has been quite a pain…"
The Shadow responds by clinging onto him, looking so small, so… Helpless. He tries nudging it off, to no avail, "No! No, no, don't go!" It cries, staring up at him. Naoto stares back, and speaks in a cautious tone, like a parent would to an unruly child.
"It's useless speaking with you. I need to go back now…"
The tears continue streaming down the Shadow's face. This one hit Erin harder, so much so, she felt the overpowering need to throw her arms around it, "Why? Why are you leaving me here?! Why am I always being left all alone?! It's so lonely… I don't want to be alone!"
These… Were his true feelings? He didn't want to be left alone? She felt bad that she never noticed… He hid it so well. She wanted to say something, anything, but the words died in her throat before she could, and Naoto looked more confused by his Shadow, than downtrodden anyway.
He contorts his face, "You wear the same face as me… It's as if you're implying we're one and the same. But, the difference between you and me is…"
His Shadow changes its tune, and a rather loud laugh explodes from it, "Why delude yourself? I am you." Its voice had more of an edge, you could pratically hear the poison drip off it, as it continued, "These childish gestures are no mere affectation... They're the truth. The fools all say it, don't they…? 'You're only a child, ' 'Keep out of our business, kid,' and so forth!" Naoto doesn't flinch, doesn't blink, doesn't look at all bothered. It was amazing, "No matter how many cases you spend hours cogitating over, no matter how many crimes you solve, you're a child in their eyes. It's your brain they're interested in. The grey matter locked up in that skull. As long as they need it, you're an ace detective! But once they're done, it's back to the playpen with you. You haven't the means to deal with society's two-faced nature... You're just a lonely child."
"Naoto…" Yosuke attempts to comfort him, but he rejects the consolation. He looks down, as the Shadow brings its hands back up to smother more tears.
"I wanna be a grown-up... I wanna be a big boy right now… Then they'll see who I am… I… I want a reason for me to stay…"
Naoto drops the cool guy act, and throws his hands up, "That's enough! I can find my own reason for living."
The Shadow laughs, "I'm telling you that's impossible. You are but a child. How can you change that essential truth?"
"S-Stop it…!"
"At your core you admire the sort of 'strong' and 'cool' men who populate detective fiction. But in trying to emulate them, you must know that in truth, you're nothing of the sort—you're a child. There's no avoiding first principle… Admit that you're a child, and admit there is nothing that you can do about it. Now then! Our analysis is complete. Let us begin the body alteration procedure! You have no objections; do you, 'Naoto' Shirogane?" It stresses out his name for emphasis, and Naoto's face noticeably stiffens.
"Stop it!" He yells again, his voice getting higher with each word. But the Shadow continues.
"'Naoto'… Such a cool, manly name! But a name doesn't change the truth. It doesn't let you cross the barrier between sexes. How could you become an ideal man when you were never male to begin with…?"
Yosuke stares in astonishment, "Wait, what…? Did he… Did I hear that right?!"
"I-I can't believe it… He's not…?" Erin trails off, bitting her lip. Her mind was running in circles, and she had to back-up, and use the wall for support, in case she fell right there. For some reason, she wasn't disgusted by the truth... She felt almost... Reassured?
Naoto tries to calm her breathing, tries to act nonchalant by the words, but can't, "I won't throw a tantrum… That accomplishes nothing…!"
"How often I heard those words from the adults. 'Throwing a tantrum won't solve anything, Naoto-kun,' and other such bilge! They made you cry, didn't they? Yet here you are, mimicking those same men. What exactly are you trying to justify?"
"What…?"
A smile tugs at the Shadow's lips as it places its hands on her shoulders, "It's all right. You needn't suffer anymore. That's why you're undergoing this body alteration procedure to begin with. You throw a tantrum, but it fails to change the situation a single bit… I can quite understand the feeling. After all… I am you."
"That's not true!" Naoto screamed, her voice reaching octaves above its usual level.
She had lost it.
Suzaku steps in, "Don't say it!" But Erin pushes him back, offers him a hard look, one that seemed misplaced on her usually soft face.
"No, let her get it out! If we don't, she'll continue to suffer…We just have to save her, no matter what!"
"As if you know anything about me!" The Shadow barked, "You want to save me, huh? Fine... Go ahead, and try!" Its engulfed in that all too familiar black cloud, and when it clears, floating above them is its true form. Half of it appeared to be human, while the other was purely mechanical; in both hands were what looked to be ray guns, and behind it were two helicopter blades.
Naoto falls back, and Erin rushes forward to catch her before she hits the ground, "Don't worry Naoto-kun, we'll get you through this! Just leave it to us!" She exclaims, though she knows it falls on deaf ears. She gently lays her down before joining her team on the frontlines.
"I am a Shadow, the true self. What, are you tired of yourselves too? Very well, then let's being the special operation!" The Shadow taunted, waiting for them to attack it.
As it was hovering, either grounding it or slowing it down would be a necessity. Everyone was stronger from the attack, defense, and agility boosts they had going in, but they knew they would wear off quickly. Yu started by summoning his Persona, Tam Lin, and dropping a Ziodyne on the Shadow, followed closely by a Garudyne from Yosuke.
Suzaku, wanting to end this quickly, and having a long-range weapon, aimed for one of the thrusters on the wings, but while he connected, it didn't do much damage to it. Erin used her Bufula spell, which did do a little more damage, but it all seemed like an annoyance at most to the Shadow. It wound up for it's attack.
While it didn't seem to do anything, everyone seemed to feel a bit weaker, as if their boosts were stripped away. Yu responded by crushing his card and wreathing him in an orange light. Yosuke used a Garudyne again, which still hurt it, but less than before.
Suzaku decided to change up his strategy and use Persona attacks, "I summon you!" He cried as Shiranui released an Agilao on the Shadow, which didn't seem to do anything. Rise, in their minds, called, "It seems to resist fire! Avoid using it!" Erin dropped another Bufula on it, again, doing minor damage.
Shadow Naoto spoke again. "No no, that will never do! Patients must lie still for me to drill proper holes in them!" She shot a wave of energy out at them.
"Be careful!" Rise warned them, "That removed all your resistances!" Yu summoned his Persona who fired off a Deathbound at the Shadow. Yosuke used his wind spell but somehow the Shadow managed to move out of the way. It moved right into Suzaku's Double Fangs attack, and Erin called out another Bufula, which caught the airborne enemy off-guard, sending it reeling.
The Shadow seemed to look them over, quickly thinking about it's move, before firing off a Magarudyne; The attack knocked Suzaku down, but still dealt a significant deal of damage to everyone else, including Erin, who resisted it, and Yosuke, who was immune before it had used Element Zero. She then was surrounded in a glowing light, and Rise called out, "That's a Heat Riser! Be really careful everyone!"
Yu used another Ziodyne spell, while Yosuke had a trick up his sleeve. He used Dekaja to remove its stat boosts. Suzaku climbed to his feel, and used a Tempest Slash on the Shadow. Erin had Freya use a Mediarama, which helped everyone feel refreshed.
The Shadow's gaze flickered between Yosuke and Erin. One had removed its boosts, the other had healed its adversaries. It finally settled on Erin. "Why don't you stay quiet?" It fired a beam that not only hurt her, it also sapped some of her spirit energy and left her silenced, which Rise was quick to inform them.
"Rin-senpai can't use her Persona!" She called out to the three of them. While Yu Power Charged and Yosuke attacked, them being the strongest, Suzaku got out a mouthwash for Erin and used it to cure her Silence.
She smiled as he healed her status. "Thanks, Suzaku-kun!" before cutting her own card and using another ice attack on the Shadow, who looked rather irritated. "If you'd have stayed quiet, you could have died painlessly!" Its Maziodyne knocked down both Yosuke and Erin this time. "Now, you'll all become your new selves!" It cried before sending Suzaku flying back with a Brave Blade.
He looked to Yu for advice, who switched his Persona. "Kikuri-Hime!" He called, summoning the new Persona. The Element Zero was still in effect, but now he had a weakness the Shadow hopefully couldn't prey on. He used his Mediarama with a Divine Grace boost to get everyone back up. Almost fully healed, Yosuke, Suzaku and Erin redoubled their efforts, using Garudyne, Tempest Slash, and Bufula.
Shadow Naoto was taking a beating, but was a very resilient Shadow. "I've… Had it with this!" She shot a beam out of her eye at Suzaku, making him collapse.
Yu switched back to Tam Lin and attacked the Shadow with a Deathbound, while Yosuke used Diarama to heal Suzaku. While he was healed, he feebly casted a Sukunda, and almost fell over. Erin, figuring out what was wrong, gave him some Royal Jelly, helping him get back to normal. He nodded his head in her direction. "I owe you one, Rin-chan."
Shadow Naoto was growing weary, but so was everyone else. "Ugh… Why won't you stay put?" It cried, unleashing a wave of fire over them all, knocking down Yu. None of them expected this to happen, and were all a little shaken, so they didn't notice the Ziodyne it had charged up, which it dropped on Yosuke.
Suzaku and Erin were both hurt, but still standing, as the Shadow turned its robotic eyes to look them over. "So, are you ready for the operation?" It asked with a giggle. While it was clearly intended to be cute, in the current situation, it was terrifying. It dove at Erin, but was slow enough that she was able to dodge out of the way by side-stepping and ducking under the wings of the robot.
Yu and Yosuke got back up, their pride more hurt than their bodies once Yu got Kikuri-Hime back out and healing. Yosuke and Suzaku went back to using Garudyne and Tempest Slash, while Erin attacked Shadow Naoto by jumping up and slashing at it with her trench knives, to conserve what spirit energy she had left in case she was required to be the healer once more.
In an attempt to find out what Yu's new weakness was, a Mabufudyne was sent against them, not doing much since no one was weak to ice, thankfully. Yu, only possessing Agilao as an offensive spell, slashed at the Shadow with his katana. Yosuke and Suzaku used their most powerful attacks again, and Erin healed them up.
Shadow Naoto looked to be about finished. "Why… Even… If you keep.. Trying…" She cried as she was attacked with a Garudyne. Suzaku barely moved out of the way in time, but her Sukunda made it possible.
Yu looked to his team-mates, who nodded in response to the question he didn't voice. They were ending this now. He switched Personas one more time. "Cybele!" The blue and white goddess attacked with a Vicious Strike, knocking the Shadow out of the sky, where Yosuke attacked with one more Garudyne. Before it could get its bearings once the tornado ended, it was struck from behind by Shiranui's Tempest Slash, and was killed by a Bufula from Erin's Persona, Freya.
Everyone stopped to catch their breath as the Shadow reverted back to a yellow-eyed copy of Naoto, crying out, "Why… Why won't you accept me!?"
I'll let Nova have the pleasure of writing the aftermath, since this is getting much too long *le shot* Btw, he wrote the fight scene~ Which was much better than the rest I wrote, haha... Ha... Mmm... *sob*