Chapter 5: A Two Faced Nature

"You don't want to accept me, you say?" Haiyo's shadow asked snarkily as a purple fog began to emanate from his body. "That's fine. I can just make myself whole now."

"W-What the…" Haiyo began before a large gust of wind spread throughout the room; although most everyone kept their footing, Haiyo didn't, as he got blown backwards into the wall before collapsing to his knees.

"Ugh!" Haiyo grunted as he fell to the floor face first. He tried making an effort to get up, but he just fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Haiyo!" Yosuke shouted, horrified by what he was seeing. By now, the smoke had cleared up, revealing Shadow Haiyo's new form: it was in a semi-human form, albeit the jetpack attached to its back, the two large blasters for arms, and a mechanical looking face. Speaking of its face, the distinct black design turned around inside the shadow's skull, revealing a bright white design on the back.

"Two designs?" Yukiko asked.

"It probably stands for a two faced nature," Yu suggested.

"I am a shadow," Haiyo's shadow bellowed in a deep baritone, "of the true self."

"You shut the hell up!" Yosuke shouted.

"Oh, Yosuke," the shadow acknowledged, "I thank you for bringing me all this power." The shadow's face then turned back to the black face. "But I have to kill you and anyone who dares to oppose me!"

"Yosuke," Yu butted in. "I know how you feel, but now isn't the time to provoke it further."

"B-But…"

"How about you go check on Haiyo? The girls and I can take him for now."

Yosuke stared at Yu, then looked to Haiyo, then back to Yu and nodded. "Alright. Give that thing hell, partner."

Yu smiled. "Don't worry. We'll make it sorry it messed with us. Now go." Yosuke nodded and took off towards Haiyo's limp body.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?" Shadow Haiyo bellowed as he aimed his right blaster square on Yosuke.

"ZIO!" Yu shouted as his Persona, Izanagi, brought down a bolt of lightning onto the shadow's body; it didn't do much damage, but it did redirect the shadow's attention to Yu and the girls.

"Chie! Yukiko!" Yu shouted, calling the girls. "Hit him with everything you've got!"

"Got it!" Chie responded.

"Uh-huh!" Yukiko followed up. Yosuke wasn't surprised by their willingness, but maybe since it was Haiyo they were fighting for, it melted his heart a little. As soon as the next shot was landed on the shadow, Yosuke was by Haiyo's side, picking him up off the floor and sitting him up on a wall. He wasn't awake, but Haiyo's constant breaths eased Yosuke's mind a little.

"Haiyo!" Yosuke shouted. "C'mon, wake up." Haiyo didn't react to this, and Yosuke resorted to try shaking him awake.

"Wake up, dammit!" Yosuke demanded, but again Haiyo responded to nothing Yosuke tried. For a moment, Yosuke looked back to Haiyo's shadow and thought about how its appearance represented Haiyo's feelings. He knew Haiyo was becoming his own person, but Yosuke never imagined that he'd been struggling with an identity crisis. This realization was almost enough to make him cry, but Yosuke did his best to hold back tears.

"Ugh," Haiyo moaned. Yosuke finally snapped out of his trance and faced Haiyo once more. He was finally awake, albeit a tad bit delirious from getting the wind knocked out of him.

"Haiyo?" Yosuke stuttered.

"Ugh, Y-Yosuke?" Haiyo asked airily.

"Oh, thank god you're alright," Yosuke gasped.

"H-Huh? O-Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, that's kinda hard to explain. You see…"

Haiyo turned his head to see the shadow he'd inadvertently released. "W-What the hell is that?"

Yosuke pointed to the shadow. "That is your shadow. A suppression of your true feelings."

"N-No way. I'm better then that… thing!"

"Maybe, but you still gave that thing life in here."

"In here? What do you mean?"

"That's even harder to explain."

"I've got time."

"Yosuke!" Yu shouted. "We need you now! Is Haiyo alright?"

"Yeah, partner!" Yosuke replied. "He's even awake now!"

"Great! Now hurry up! Chie's attacks are worthless, and Yukiko's getting tired from healing!"

"Alright!" Yosuke faced Haiyo once more. "Stay here. I've gotta get in there and fight!"

Haiyo tilted his head. "Fight?"

"You'll see." Finally, for the first time since the battle began, Yosuke retreated towards the group, held out his hand, and down came the Magician tarot card for him to crush in his hand.

"JIRAIYA!" Yosuke shouted as he clenched the card in his hand, which released a shower of blue. Above his head, however, materialized a translucent being in the same manner as Haiyo's shadow, except it looked like a brightly colored, costumed ninja with a disco ball-like object as a head.

"W-What is that even supposed to be?" Haiyo asked himself.

"USE GARU!" Yosuke shouted once more, and after the Jiraiya character posed in an almost meditative stance, a small gust of wind enveloped Haiyo's shadow; whatever the case, the shadow collapsed to the ground as if it had the wits knocked out of it.

"I see," another figure stated, whom which Haiyo could've sworn was nothing more than a cutesy bear costume. "The shadow is weak to wind! Keep it up, guys!" Haiyo didn't know what to think, but he could tell it was on his side if it was on Yosuke's side.

"Got it!" Yosuke replied. "Listen Ted, can you go stay by Haiyo for me?"

"You can count on me!" The bear replied. In no time at all, the bear was assuming a defensive position in front of Haiyo.

"What're you supposed to be?" Haiyo asked.

"I'm Teddie," The bear replied, "and right now, I need to protect you from yourself."

"Do you always act this carefree?"

"No, just when Sensei and the others have things under control."

"Sensei?"

"The one with the grey hair."

"Oh, I see. Why call him Sensei?"

"He is capable of great power. So now I call him Sensei."

"Yeah, I'm just gonna ignore you and see what this is all about."

"Okay. Wait a minute! How rude of you!" This reaction was, to Haiyo, almost worth getting abducted.

Just as things were going well for the group, Shadow Haiyo's mechanical face flipped back to the white face.

"W-What was that about?" Yosuke asked.

"Do you think it means anything?" Yukiko asked.

"No clue," Yosuke replied, "but it doesn't matter. I'm going for it again!"

"Yosuke, wait!" Yu shouted, but Yosuke already sent another Garu blast out to the shadow; contrary to before, Shadow Haiyo nullified the attack, leaving Yosuke especially surprised.

"W-What the hell?" Yosuke asked.

"I had a feeling that was the case," Yu replied. "Just like the way each head talks differently, they also change the shadow's overall weakness."

"So we have to rediscover its weakness?" Chie asked.

"Great!" Yosuke added before calling out to Teddie once more. "Hey Ted!"

"Y-Yeah?"

"How's Haiyo doing?"

"He's fine, but…"

"But this bear is getting on my nerves," Haiyo butted in.

"H-Hey…!" Teddie wasn't happy now.

"Heh. You think so too, Haiyo?"

"Yep. Now get your head in the game!"

"O-Oh, right. Thanks man!" With extra encouragement, Yosuke focused back in on the battle, waiting on the others to discover the shadow's new weakness.

"TOMOE!" Chie shouted. "BUFU!" The spell cased the shadow in a block of ice, and although the attack connected, this was not its weakness.

"No good," Chie said.

"Yukiko, heal us up," Yu requested.

"Alright," Yukiko replied. "MEDIA!" Her Persona, Konohana Sakuya, obliged by releasing her healing magic on the whole group.

"Let's try this," Yu stated. "PYRO JACK!" A new Persona appeared behind Yu, resembling a pumpkin head wearing a witch's hat, a black robe, and holding a lantern. "AGILAO!" Pyro Jack produced a large ball of fire that struck Shadow Haiyo with such force that it brought it down to its knees once more.

"Alright!" Chie shouted. "Let's get him!"

Yu nodded. "Right! ALL OUT ATTACK!" All four then dashed ahead to attack Shadow Haiyo head on; despite using all their might, they were unable to bring the shadow down, but he was looking noticeably worn down from the constant barrage of attacks.

"Hell yeah!" Yosuke shouted. "We've got him by ropes."

Shadow Haiyo's face rotated once more. "Oh really?" the black face asked. "DIARAMA!" Suddenly, the previously weary shadow was floating as easily as he was before, with the addition of a big health boost.

"W-What the…?" Yosuke was confused for a moment before he turned his head back to Haiyo. "Haiyo! Are you rejecting it again!?"

"I can't help it!" Haiyo replied. "How could I ever accept that freak?"

"Damn it, man!" Before he could curse his cousin out some more, Shadow Haiyo brought down a Zio skill that brought Yosuke down.

"Yosuke!" Haiyo shouted. In another moment, the shadow's face rotated once more to the white face, and used the ice skill that Chie used earlier to bring down Yukiko in a similar fashion to Yosuke.

"Yukiko!" Haiyo shouted similarly before running out to the group.

"Hold up there," Teddie shouted. "It's too dangerous."

"Haiyo, I agree with Teddie," Yu agreed. "Stand back."

"It's alright," Haiyo reassured. "I've got this." After halting in front of his shadow, Haiyo began to look it in the eye.

"Oh, it's just you," the white face mocked. "I honestly thought we were in trouble."

The face rotated once more. "But we can easily handle you, vermin," the black face mocked.

"Are you sure about that?" Haiyo asked unironically. "After all, do you know what I'm capable of?"

"… What's your point?" The shadow seemed to be unsure of what Haiyo was getting at.

"I know what your pattern is." Haiyo began. "You, the black face, are able to use fire and lightning while being weak to wind. Meanwhile, the white face is able to use ice and wind while being weak to fire."

"You may know our patterns, but what does that do to benefit you?"

"Well, it's just so funny."

"What is?"

"Your weaknesses say a lot about me. If a situation gets too heated, I just have to be more hard headed. So really, we are alike."

The shadow began to twitch and moan as its body began to crackle like static. It wasn't much, but Haiyo acknowledging some similarities between the two was weakening its ability to fight.

"He's all yours, guys," Haiyo said. "Just stick to wind attacks."

"Right!" the four shouted. By this time, Yosuke and Yukiko were up and ready to fight.

"JIRAIYA!" Yosuke shouted. "USE GARU!" Like before, a wall of wind enveloped Shadow Haiyo, with the gust being just enough to bring the daunting shadow to its knees.

"NOW!" Yu shouted. "ALL OUT ATTACK!" All for rushed the shadow with everything they could with their weapon; unlike last time, with the shadow weakened from earlier, the combined attack strength of the group was enough to reduce the shadow back to the likeness of which it bore. The first one to approach it was Haiyo himself, who was still in disbelief over what he'd just beared witness to.

"Haiyo," Yosuke said, patting Haiyo's shoulder. "It's okay. There's no need to hide it anymore.

"Y-You don't get it," Haiyo replied grimly. "What that THING said may have been true, but he's not the me I want to be anymore."

"I understand," Yosuke comforted. "In fact, that's exactly how I felt." Haiyo sighed once more.

"Wait now," Yu butted in. "Before you say anything, just because you and Yosuke share SOME similarities doesn't mean you're anything alike."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yosuke sorely asked. For once, Haiyo was able to let out a good laugh.

"That's true," Haiyo replied.

"And what you said to your shadow earlier," Yukiko added, "about you and him sharing similarities. That applies to you and Yosuke too, don't you think?"

"Hey, yeah," Chie agreed. "Besides, there's no need to go through so much trouble to distinguish yourself from Yosuke."

"That's right," Yu added. "You do that just by how you choose to act from past experiences."

"Well… guess that's why Yosuke is Yosuke," Haiyo mirrored. "Because he didn't choose to grow up."

"H-Hey!" Yosuke cried. Immediately, everyone else, especially Yukiko, burst into instantaneous laughter. After this moment of levity, Haiyo faced his shadow once more. As if acting on cue, the shadow sat up and faced his doppelganger.

"So," the shadow started as it eyes shone yellow, "what'll it be?"

"I-I may not like it, but ARE me. We grew from the same past, and you're the half of my personality I locked up for so long." He then clenched his fist. "Hear that? Now what do you have to say?"

The shadow just nodded. "Thank you. That's all I wanted to hear." Finally, in a brilliant shine of blue, the shadow disappeared, leaving behind a new figure; it was still humanoid, but now it sported a solid mechanical body, dressed in a deep blue suit over a midnight black coat, sporting one arm mounted blaster, and had a face half white, half black, with shining, ruby red eyes.

"I-Is this my Persona?" Haiyo asked.

Yu and Yosuke nodded.

"Huh. Xanto?" The Persona nodded as it vanished in a blue veil, falling to Haiyo as the Tower tarot card. Soon it, too, vanished from sight. Mostly out of exhaustion, Haiyo dropped to one knee.

"Whoa there," Yosuke said as he pulled Haiyo off the ground. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Haiyo replied. "Just a little tired."

"Well, I'm bringing you home RIGHT when we get back."

"O-Okay? How long have I been gone?"

"A few hours, maybe? Don't worry, it's not long enough for anyone to notice."

"If you say so." Haiyo was wearing a weary smile when he said this.

Hey guys. I'll be honest here, I tried like hell to enjoy writing this chapter, but I couldn't. I wanted to be extra careful to make sure the shadow battle was good enough to match the quality you guys expect from me. And if not, then we can all forget this as a simple misstep. Oh, and if you guys hate the name of my OC's Persona, I don't blame you; this was the hardest thing about this chapter, and that says a lot, so if you have a name change suggestion, let me know and I'll oblige.

Regardless, I do hope you still enjoyed this chapter, and as always, please review, follow/favorite, and, most of all, read!

Read on!

-rjm324