"Just a little more," Fuuka said as the group fought the Priestess. It turns out that the theory of Aigis and Ken was right. They wandered around the 40th floor - the place that used to be a blank, dead end - as they waited for midnight. The place was huge but they did not split up. They didn't want to risk fighting the shadow alone.
Yu delivered the finishing blow by using Megidoloan at the shadow. It gave an ear piercing screech. "It's over." Yu panted and wiped the sweat on his forehead. Everyone smiled each other. Fist bumps and "congratulations" were exchanged among the group.
Yukari and Junpei looked at each other. "This sure brings back memories," Junpei said to her. Yukari smiled and said, "Yeah..." As Yukari and Junpei continue their reminiscing a fog suddenly clouded their minds. "I feel like I'm forgetting something," Yukari said. But they both shrugged the feeling and joined the others.
They were about to leave when Fuuka warned them. "Everyone, look out! It's coming back!" They sharply turned around and saw the shadow materialized in front of them. "I was sure it was gone just a second ago. I'll try calling for backup. For now, please hang in there."
"Like we have a choice." Yosuke smirked. "Get ready for round two." They all charged the shadow at Yu's signal.
"Fuuka!" The voice broke Fuuka from her concentration. She sensed that the one who called her was Minako. Shinjiro stood behind the girl, panting.
"How do you know my name?" Fuuka asked. It was something she wanted to find out long ago - when Ken told about what the girl said.
Minako waved her hand dismissively as she tried to catch her breath, "No time to explain. How are they?" She looked stoically at the older female.
Fuuka suddenly felt a wave of familiarity from the girl, but the feeling was gone as soon as it came for she tried to process what the crimson-eyed girl said. "They're fighting the shadow. Again."
"That's all I need to know. Come on, Shinji."
"Alright!"
They jumped to the teleportation device.
"I sense two of them," Rise said. "I think one of them is a shadow... It's his shadow!"
"Let's hurry," Mitsuru said. "Who knows what kind of dangers he's facing."
"I never knew I was this handsome," Shadow Ryoji praised as he circled Ryoji. "Am I really this vain?" is what Ryoji thought as he watched the yellow-eyed him. "Yes you are... But I think narcissistic is the perfect word to describe us," his shadow answered jokingly. "Minako-chan is the only one who can only beat us when it comes to beauty."
"Would you stop reading my mind?!" Ryoji shouted. His shadow countered with, "Then stop thinking you idiot!"
"If I'm an idiot then you're an idiot too!"
"What was that!?"
They glared at each other before looking away. "I just indirectly accepted you so why are you still here?" Ryoji asked, still not looking to the shadow beside him. He decided to sit on the floor, leaning against the fountain.
His shadow smiled down at him mischievously. "I'm waiting for my cute, little Minako-chan... And Shinjiro-kun to come," he said.
"What if someone else comes and they didn't?"
"I control this whole area," Shadow Ryoji said as he sat beside his double. He proved it to Ryoji by making the fountain work with a snap of a finger. "I can keep them out until those two come. Besides..." the pause caused Ryoji to look at his doppelganger. He noticed a melancholic smile on his shadow's face. "We're used to waiting and being all alone."
Ryoji didn't say anything.
"Minako and Shinjiro will come..." The shadow chuckled ruefully. "I know they will."
Yu didn't know if the Priestess was getting stronger or if they were getting weaker. The male wild card could already feel his body getting heavier due to exhaustion. He didn't know how long they could keep this up, especially now that they lost three fighters.
During the third battle, Kanji fell unconscious after protecting Naoto from a powerful Muttering Tiaras. Not long after, Junpei followed his example after being hit by the Priestess when he attacked the other Muttering Tiara. Because of that, Yu was forced to remove Yukari from the battle to attend to the two. "It might get worse if they aren't healed now," is what he said when Yukari protested. The archer begrudgingly complied.
Yu clenched his fist. He struggled to stand without his knees shaking. "I can't give up now..." he muttered to himself. He looked around and saw Naoto and Yosuke still fighting with him. Teddie stood near Yukari, making sure to protect her and their unconscious comrades from the enemy.
"Senpai, I don't think we can take much more of it," Naoto said between her pants. Yosuke nodded his head in agreement.
The gray-haired male clench his fist, trying to push away the feeling of hopelessness that was starting to form in his heart. He desperately called for help, for backup, to come, desperately prayed to the gods to give him enough power to protect his friends until someone comes to save them or until the perfect opportunity to escape comes. I can't be weak now. I have to protect them. I have to get the out.
"Messiah!" "Castor" Two persona sped pass through Yu toward the shadow. The two pulverized it, not giving it any chance to make a move. Yu and everyone were shocked to see new personas on the battlefield standing triumphantly over the dissolving Priestess. They turned and saw Minako and Shinjiro gave each other a high five.
"Will it come back?" Naoto anxiously asked no one in particular as she stared at where the shadow used to be.
"Don't worry. It's gone now, right Fuuka?" Minako waited for Fuuka to respond. When Fuuka confirmed that it was gone she beamed at everyone. "Sorry we're late," she said sincerely. "We have to go now. You guys should go back. I'll handle Mitsuru-senpai." Minako and Shinjiro left without as soon as they came.
"I think she knows Kirijo-san very well," Yu said. "This is the second time I heard her call her 'Mitsuru-senpai'."
"Forget that," Yosuke said. "How did they beat that shadow?"
"This place is highly unstable," Aigis said as she gazed at the pole that almost hit them. This was the third time, ever since they arrived at the Paulownia Mall area, that they almost got struck by random objects. Like for example, the haunted knives that almost impaled them and the ground that almost swallowed them whole. They would have taken the entrance if the places wasn't blocked by a herd of slightly powerful shadow.
They all decided that it was time for them to rest. They've been wandering around the area avoiding the herd of unknown shadows. Mitsuru walked over to Rise as the others decided to sit down. "Kujikawa, please try scanning the area again."
"Roger."
"I feel like his shadow doesn't want us to be here," Chie said as she stretched. "What do you think, Master? You do know him, right?"
"Ryoji tends to goof around most of the times, especially when his with Junpei. He's always so laid-back that you wouldn't think that he never takes anything seriously. I've only seen him serious a handful of times. The first tim-" Akihiko paused. "The first time... I don't remember anymore. I'm sure it was before December but I don't remember when."
"Don't worry Akihiko-san," Yukiko said from beside Chie. "Sometimes it's hard to remember small things like that."
Akihiko could absently nodded. But it's not a "small thing". Why can't I remember?
"The shadows from the entrance are gone. There are also two people approaching Mochizuki-kun and his shadow. It's Arisato-san and Aragaki-kun."
"So it was waiting for them," Mitsuru thought aloud. "Let's go."
"Minako-chan!" When Mitsuru and the others arrived, they were greeted by the scene of a facepalming Ryoji, a bored looking Shinjiro, and a yellow-eyed Ryoji happily hugging a nonchalant Minako.
"Just let her go," Ryoji groaned.
"Why would I? I love her!" his shadow argued.
"Shut up!" Ryoji was now beet red from the mix of anger and embarrassment.
"But she already knows that, right? If I remember right you were even friend zoned."
"Poor guy," Rise whispered to Chie and Yukiko. The two nodded in agreement to their junior's statement.
"Shut up already!"
"What do you want from him anyway?" Minako asked as she tried to free herself from the shadow. She was still stuck. She wanted to use her naginata but it fell when Shadow Ryoji attacked her with a bear hug.
The shadow began to laugh and rested his forehead on Minako's shoulders. "Why don't you just stop?"
The girl's face contorted with confusion, "Huh?"
"Please stop trying to save everyone because they'll just die in the in end. And please, just live, with me... I don't want to go back there... I don't want to be all alone... And more importantly..." The shadow held her tighter. "I don't want to lose you... I just want to be happy with you. But why? Why do you give me so much pain? Why did you drag me into your story that doesn't have a happy ending for the both of us? ...Why!?"
"What are you trying to say?" Ryoji glared at his shadow.
His shadow ignored him and continued. "Do you know how much it hurts being with you now? I wake up every day knowing what you're trying to do... It hurts so much. Why do you have to be so selfish to drag me into this predicament? Is this your way of taking revenge for coming into your life - for separating you from your friends and for your family's death?"
He paused, burying his face deeper into the nook of her neck. And then he continued. "Remember it was your choice why you were separated from your friends. And your parents just went through a natural cycle so it's no one's fault..."
"Stop talking!" Ryoji shouted desperately. His heart ached when he saw Minako shiver from bottling up her emotions. Beside him, Shinjiro had an unreadable expression. His fist was clenched. The others prepared themselves as they prepare for battle
"But if it helps ease your pain, I've always blamed myself for entering your life, even though it wasn't entirely my fault." Aigis unconsciously clenched her hands.
Mitsuru decided that it was time to interfere. "Unhand her now!" The shadow didn't even bother to look at her. This enraged the red-haired woman but she kept her calm. She slowly inhaled. When she exhaled, a sudden blur of yellow passed by her. "Aigis!"
The mechanical maiden dashed towards Ryoji's shadow and Minako. But before she could even get anymore closer to them, the bench by the fountain suddenly came to life and flung itself to her, sending the blonde flying towards one of the lamppost.
"Aigis!" Minako tried to help her but the shadow won't budge and let her go. "Why did you do that!?"
"Don't worry," the other Ryoji answered. "She's still alive." He pressed his lips closer to her ear and whispered, "I would've gotten rid of her if she wasn't special to you though..." Minako looked at him in horror.
Shinjiro ran to help Aigis up then scowled at the shadow. He found most of it hard to believe. Ryoji, his idiotic yet kind friend, was hiding all of these inside. ''Why the hell did you do that?"
The shadow ignored him and gently stroked the head of the girl in his arms. "Even though it saddens me to do this, I'll help you with this mess you-"
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Everyone, except for Minako, turned to Ryoji. "You are not me!"
A dark wind swirled around Shadow Ryoji and Minako. The shadow looked up and gave Ryoji an evil grin. "That's all I needed to hear."
Yu and Yosuke carefully laid Kanji at one of the sofa. Naoto tried to contact the backup team but gave up after her fourth attempt. "We should check out what's happening in there," she said. They all left the unconscious Junpei and Kanji.
When they entered the TV World, Fuuka gasped. "I feel a strong presence from the Paulownia Mall area." Hearing this, they all ran.
The shadow transformed into a huge, human-like, black figure. It has a white mask with an eerie smile covering its face. "0" was engraved on the forehead are of the mask. Minako was inside of it because Ryoji's shadow was holding her when it transformed.
It wasn't doing anything. They, along with Ryoji and Shinjiro who joined the group, took this opportunity to form a strategy and to prepare for battle. After coming up with almost nothing, they turned to Rise, who was already scanning the enemy. She wasn't able to get anything besides its arcana and the fact that Minako was somewhere inside it.
"If we attack, Arisato might get injured if she's still alive. But if we don't do something it will kill all of us." Mitsuru tried to stay calm as she pondered of a way to deal with the shadow without sacrificing any lives. But there was none. "We have no choice but to attack it and hope that she would be safe."
"NO!" Aigis, Ryoji and Shinjiro simultaneously objected. Mitsuru was shocked, not because the three shouted at the same time but because Aigis was opposing what she said. "I won't let that happen! I will save Minako-san."
"Very well. Kujikawa, please try to locate Arisato's location again."
"Alright."
Moments later Yu and his group - minus Junpei and Kanji - arrived. They all stared at the shadow in shock.
"Yamagishi, please help Kujikawa." Fuuka did as told.
"Is that Ryoji-kun's shadow?" Yukari asked.
Ryoji was the one who answered her. "Yeah... It's all my fault." His voice was full of guilt and hurt. Yukari noticed that he wore the same expression after the incident with Aigis at the Moonlight Bridge.
"Arisato-san is inside its chest area," Rise said. Mitsuru nodded.
"Everyone," she began coolly. "Prepare for battle."
This is my longest chapter yet. Honestly, I don't know how I was going to write this but I somehow did. Though I still think it looks better when I was imagining it. Setting that aside, I hope you guys liked it. I'd like to thank MiguelHazard2 and kaed1234 for following/favoriting. And also to MimiZ and Rosalinda Lancaster Leonhart for commenting.