IMPORTANT: I still need a name for the Protagonist. Please leave a suggestion in a review, it would help a lot.
-Purple
The silver-haired student stepped forward. He held out his hand, and a blue light began to radiate around him. The sight of this light soothed me as much as I could have been soothed at the moment, though panic still tore at my heart. Still, the beautiful light perplexed me, and gave off a welcoming aura that drew me to its presence. Above him, what looked like a blue tarot card appeared out of the light, and descended toward his hand. When it rested in the center of his hand, he clenched his fingers together, crushing the card. As he did this, a brilliant, white light burst forth from him, and before him stood a creature much like the new appearance of my doppelganger. However, instead of having a dark and frightening feel to it, it was most fascinating and majestic in my eyes. It looked somewhat like a soldier, clad entirely in metal armor, bearing a long, mighty blade and peering proudly out of two magnificent golden eyes. It leapt from where it stood, and attacked the robotic monster head-on. The earsplitting sound of metal scraping against metal made me cringe as its sword collided with the exterior of the machine. However, the metal was too strong for such a blow, and the doppelganger threw the beast to the side, soaring into the air. The being the student had summoned disappeared with a flash of light.
Yosuke did the same thing, crushing a tarot card with a slightly different design, and before him appeared a similar being, however this one wore white and camoflague garments, as well as some golden decor and a long, red scarf. Its long, thin limbs spread outward, and a violent blast of wind slammed into the flying doppelganger, but didn't seem to do much more damage than only knocking her a few meters into the air. She grunted in frustration and dove out of the air, spiraling into a barrel roll and attacking the students. My heart skipped a beat as I panicked for their sake, but after the attack, they all seemed to be alright. Most of them had dove out of the way, but Yosuke and Chie had been hit by the doppelganger's wings, though they didn't seem to be hurt very bad. They pulled themselves back up immediately, and prepared to fight again.
"No, no, that will never do," the monster taunted, "Patients must lie still for me to drill proper holes into them." She pointed one of her guns at Teddie, and suddenly an enormous bolt of electricity hammered down on him. He squealed in pain.
"NO!" I screamed, fearing the worst for Teddie. That enormous amount of electricity was surely enough to at least paralyze a full-grown man, let alone a teenage boy. I feared the worst for him, but amazingly, he was only knocked down, and was rocking on his back, flailing his stubby limbs and trying to stand. I couldn't believe my eyes. Had his bear suit redirected the electric current or something? No... It wouldn't be possible...
"Are you alright, Teddie?" the silver haired student said as he helped Teddie up. He hastily pulled a small, green gemstone out of one of his pockets. "Here, I found a Life Stone a little while back. It should help." He held out his hand, and the Life Stone immediately rose up into the air. It disssolved into a calming green light, which encircled Teddie and healed him before my eyes.
Teddie got to his feet, looking much better. He smiled up at the silver-haired student. "Thank you bear-y much!" he said cheerfully.
Amazing, I thought to myself, did that stone just heal his wounds?
Teddie now wore a face full of zeal and passion. He also became enveloped in light, crushed yet another tarot card in his palm and summoned a gigantic, round, red creature which wore a cape and carried... A missle!? It spun around, readying itself, and then conjured a block of ice around one of the wings of the doppelganger, proceeding to smash the ice to bits. She yelped in pain, but then soared upward above the others.
"She's going to attack!" Rise's voice came from the other side of the room. Behind her stood yet another one of these beings, wearing a long, elegant dress, with what seemed like a satellite for a head. It held a peculiar visor in front of Rise's eyes, and its satellite head followed my dopleganger as she flew around the room. It seemed Rise was analyzing her, and pointing out her movements and status. "Everyone brace yourselves!"
Just as she had said, the rest of the students stood their ground and got ready to guard against the attack. The doppelganger dove out of the air yet again, battering each of the students. They all shrieked in pain as they withstood the attack, but they each sustained noticable cuts, and Yukiko and Kanji were knocked to the ground.
"Yukiko, are you okay?" Chie said, sounding concerned, as she helped Yukiko up off the floor.
"I'm fine," Yukiko grunted, "I'll just fix this up." She opened the fan she wielded, a blue light beginning to radiate from her, and as her own tarot card decended in front of her, she smashed it with the fan. Before her appeared a beautiful, feminine-looking being, draped in what almost looked like a long fan of cherry blossoms. It spread its arms, and a healing light shone from each student. All their wounds were immediately healed.
"Thanks a bunch, Yukiko," Chie beamed as she too began to glow with a blue light. "Hwa-taaa!" She spun around and roundhouse-kicked the card that fell in front of her, smashing it to bits, and another creature appeared in front of her. It resembled a female samaurai, bearing a double-bladed spear. Leaping from where it stood, it attacked the doppelganger, slashing furiously at her.
She took a massive hit and plummeted through the air, but steadied herself before she could hit the ground. She made motions as if she was breathing heavily... As if she was weakening. "Ugh..." Her voice sounded tired, yet frustrated. "Why must you struggle so much?" She raised her arms, pointing her guns into the air, and bolts of lightning rained down from the ceiling onto each of the students.
I squirmed in my captivity, positive that this would have been too much for them, but yet again, to my amazement, they were all still alive. They were all hurt and shaken up, but they hadn't even sustained any major injuries. The silver-haired student reached into his pocket, taking out a vial of some sort of medicine. When he opened it, another healing light encircled each of the students, and their wounds disappeared again. I felt relieved for them all, but panic increased within me as the drills and saws around me began to adjust themselves ever so slowly above the lower part of my stomach. If I didn't get out of here in time, I wouldn't just be drilled into; I would be gutted. I was doomed and helpless, and the others were my only hope. I prayed to God over and over inside my head that they would help me escape from this hell before it was too late.
"Eat this!" Kanji bellowed as he crushed his own tarot card. The being that appeared in front of him was huge, bearing massive black muscles and painted with a white skeletal design. It was one frightening monster, but promised a large amount of damage. The giant, metal lightning bolt it held struck into the ground as it sent down its own bolt of electricity toward the doppelganger. It struck the robot's body, sending her flying into a wall and crashing into one of the huge monitors placed throughout the room. Electricity continued to surge throughout her body as she tried to recover, angered, though seriously damaged.
"Why won't you lie down and die!?" she shouted, lifting off into the air again, "You children can't do anything at all!" She lifted her guns, and lightning rained down on the students once again, but missed all but Kanji, who took the blow very lightly. She roared in outrage, gaining speed and diving throughout the room.
They seemed to be winning. Smoke billowed from holes blown in the metal exterior of the doppelganger, but the surgical tools neared me even more. I believed in them. I was scared, but I knew that they could get me out of this. They had done it before, and now I believed them. I believed everything Rise and Yukiko had told me, even if it had just seemed like drunk nonsense at the time. I had to see it to believe it, but now I finally knew what they had been doing all this time. They had been going into this "TV world" as they had said, and they had been battling "Shadows," whatever they were... And these magnificent and heroic beings they summoned before me must have been their Personas.
"Yatagarasu!" the silver-haired boy cried as he crushed another tarot card, and this time, a large, black raven appeared in front of him. I was confused. He could summon more than one Persona? The raven flapped its wings and a ball of fire combusted around the doppelganger. She groaned angrily and dove at the students, but they dodged her attack. Yosuke used his Persona to physically attack her, but she dove out of the way as well. Each student continued to attack with their own Persona, and my doppelganger also continued to attack. Each attack erupted around me, exploding, smashing and crashing, as the huge robotic monster cried out in frustration and pain, and the drills and saws neared ever closer to me. I sucked in my gut as they came inches from my skin, and I was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily. They were going to be too late. They were wearing her down, but they were going to be too late. I was seconds from the equipment drilling into me. My face was white, the blood pigment completely gone from it. I was doomed. I was going to die.
It was over. I tried desperately to call for help, but no screams would come from my mouth. Then, everything went black.
"Naoto," a familiar, yet unidentifiable voice cooed softly in my ears. It was dark, and I was scared. Before me, two blurred figures came into sight. One seemed to have long, dark brown hair, and the other had short blue hair, the same color as my own. Their faces became slightly more focused, though their appearances still remained very vague.
"M-mom..." I whispered weakly, "Dad..."
"Don't speak," my mother's voice echoed, "Save your energy. You are going to need it."
"I know what you want to ask us," my father said, "And we never left you, Naoto. We are still here in your heart, watching over you, like we have been since the day we moved on from your world."
"A person never truly leaves from the world," my mother said, "Because they'll always remain in the hearts of those who loved them."
"We're sorry we couldn't be there," my father said, "To watch you grow up, to watch you become a detective like us... But we watch you every day from here in your heart." Both of them smiled. I didn't know what to say. I didn't even remember very clearly what my parents looked like, since I had lost them at such a young age... But I remembered their voices. Their voices would always calm me down as a child... They were so gentle...
"But don't think you have to be the perfect detective just to please us, either," my mother's voice said gently. My heart skipped a beat. "We will always love you, detective or not."
"And we will always love you for you," my father added. I could see his grin widen through the blurry image.
"Don't ever think you're not good enough," my mother said softly, "Because you are everything to us. You are so, so much more than you know."
I didn't know how to take this. I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry so bad, but I didn't have the energy for it, plus I was still self-conscious about showing any emotion. The image of my parents before be began to fade, as if being swept away by the wind. Their smiles lingered in my heart, and their voices echoed in the darkness.
"Just open your eyes."
I was pulled back into consciousness by an enormous crash. When my eyes opened, after my vision came into focus, I saw that the crash was caused by my doppelganger falling out of the air and collapsing to the ground. It exploded as it crashed into the floor, black and red smoke billowing in all directions. It let out an enraged cry as it terminated, disappearing into the shadows that consumed it. The electrical equipment throughout the room had been destroyed, and sparks rained from the various smashed buttons and torn wires. The drills were still coming at me, not an inch from my skin, and I was barely conscious.
"Now!" Kanji yelled to his Persona, and with one swing of the metal bolt it carried, the surgical tools were smashed aside. I felt thick, strong hands release my arms and legs from the clamps that secured them, and Kanji's face came into focus as he lifted me from the table and then placed me on the floor beside it. Everyone was breathing heavily. I could barely move. My senses were knocked out of me, and everything was numb. I lay there as everyone looked down at me, feeling as if the room was spinning, and trying to calm my breathing.
"So..." Chie said as she looked down at me, concerned, "Naoto-kun was a girl."
Ugh. This is what she chose to say? I began to regain a bit of strength, and tried to use my voice. "Ngh..." I grunted, trying my hardest to wake up.
"Are you awake!?" Yukiko asked, sounding surprised.
I mustered all the strength I could, and slowly pulled myself to my feet. I felt very light headed when I did so, but soon gained control. I was confused, not entirely conscious yet, and my vision was heavily blurred. I was seeing double. "Where am I...?" I tried my hardest to remember. "I remember you all arriving, and..." I lifted my head. The memories started to pour into me all at once. My heart sank with embarrassment and shame. "That's right... You saw everything..." Everyone was crowded around me, but they all bore faces of concern and worry for me, rather than redicule, as I had expected. Also, surprisingly, someone else stood before me. My doppelganger-my "Shadow," was still there, but she had transformed back into her old self, and she looked like me once again. She looked up at me, silently, as if expecting something. I winced, my heart heavy, knowing what I must do. Slowly, I approached her, until I stood directly in front of her, looking straight into her golden eyes, and she looked into mine. It was going to be very hard and very strange to face myself, even more so seeing as I was doing it literally. I swallowed hard, and then let the words tumble out without hesitating.
"I lost both my parents in an accident," I told the others, "I was still young, so my grandfather took me in. I was inept at making friends... So I spent my time reading detective novels in my grandfather's study."
My Shadow nodded, bearing an ambitious grin on her face. "When I grow up... I'm gonna be an awesome, hard-boiled detective...!"
"My parents were proud of their job," I continued, "I had no qualms about following in their footsteps... An inherited occupation can feel stifling to many, but I welcomed it. I yearned for the day I could be a detective myself... Perhaps I inherited that desire from them as well. I was always alone... Seeing that, my grandfather must have believed it was his duty to help me realize my dream. I secretly aided my grandfather with his clients... And before I knew it, people started calling me Junior Detective." I smiled weakly, filled with nostalgia. "At first I was delighted. But not everything went so smoothly..."
Yukiko spoke up. "What was that you said about 'you're only a child...'?"
"Not everyone welcomes my collaboration when it comes to solving cases..." I answered painfully, "My status as 'a child' was sufficient enough to offend many of those whom I worked with. Were that the only issue, then it would have resolved itself with time... But though I will one day change from a child to an adult, I will never change from a woman to a man..."
"Do you not like being a girl...?" Yukiko asked, "Is that why you always dress like a boy?"
After some hesitation, I nodded, and then looked down. "My sex doesn't fit my ideal image of a detective... Besides, the police department is a male-oriented society. If they had the slightest 'concrete' reason to look down on me, no one would need me anymore..."
"You don't know that," Kanji said softly.
"Hey..." Yukiko said, "You must know already that what you yearn for isn't to become an adult or become a boy..."
I looked down, contemplating her words, and sighed. I had to admit it to her, and to myself. "You're absolutely right." I turned back to my Shadow, the supressed side of me that I had kept locked away from everyone, including myself. "I'm sorry... I kept ignoring you, pretending you didn't exist. But you are me... And I am you. You've always been inside me. What I should yearn for... No, what I must strive for, isn't to become a man. It's to accept myself for who I really am..."
My Shadow smiled at me, nodding, and understanding. She was thankful that I had finally accepted her after all these years, and I felt a hint of respect for her begin to grow inside me. This was me, and though I had refused to admit it, it had always been me. I felt a remarkable power surge throughout my body. It was a warm and welcoming feeling, and I couldn't help but smile as I felt something begin to change. Before me, a blue light enveloped my Shadow, just like the light that had appeared whenever the others summoned their Personas. She smiled thankfully at me, and suddenly began to transform. Soon, she no longer stood before me. In her place, there was a beautiful little creature, just like the Personas the others had wielded. It was rather small compared to the others, but I felt great power coming from it. It was dressed in a dark blue coat, golden buttons lining the front of it. Its body seemed metallic, as well as its face, which was also a dark blue. It had two big, golden eyes, and above its eyes were two tufty antennae like those of a moth. The wings that sprouted from its back were also mothlike, and they were white, tipped with various shades of blue. It wore a yellow tie similar to mine, and carried a saber consisting of a white rectangular handle with a ray of ethereal light shining out as the blade. It floated freely in the air in front of my face, looking down at me proudly.
I am thou, I heard inside my head, Thou art I. It was my own voice, though it was deeper, like the voice I had always used to put myself out as a male. It was a very relaxing and friendly voice, yet also powerful and triumphant. The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest... You have obtained the facade used to overcome life's hardships. I am your Persona, Sukuna-Hikona.
Sukuna-Hikona disappeared, and in its place was a tarot card much like the others. It displayed a design resembling a wheel of fortune, and as it descended before me and placed itself inside my heart, its light told me that all I had to do in order to summon my Persona was bring forth this card and crush it just as the others did. Crushing it would not destroy it; it would keep coming back as long as my Persona lived in me. I was illuminated in blue light as my Shadow found its way back inside me, and I had finally accepted who I was. Suddenly, an enormous wave of vertigo washed over me, and my body went numb as I collapsed to my knees.
The others quickly crowded around me. I smiled to myself, having found faith in them, as I had least expected to when I was first assigned to this case. It was completely ironic that I had become one of them after observing them suspiciously for these past months. I was very proud of them, and I admired their strength and their courage, as well as their devotion, especially to me, who I would have thought did not deserve it. "In any event," I said, breathing heavily, "You're a devious bunch... I can't believe you've kept something hidden like this for so long." It amazed me that even I couldn't figure out what they were up to. "Haha... No wonder the perpetrator has eluded the police... But it's apparent now..." I looked up, feeling pride within myself. "This case is far from over."
"That's right..." Yosuke said, smiling, "And you proved it, Naoto." I grinned. It made me more satisfied than anything to hear someone say that. "Anyways, we can talk more later. We need to get you out of here."