Chapter 2: Uneasy Truths
Within 9:00 PM, chaos has descend on this small town of Inaba once again as the police were called to the crime scene where the battle took place. Other Yu and Other Yukiko are watching this on the TV. O. Yukiko is healing up O. Yu's wounds. "Gee, you took one hell of a beating out there," O. Yukiko said.
"Yeah, I underestimate our opponents especially this world's version of Rise," Other Yu said as Other Yukiko finishes patching him up to kiss his wound to make it feel better.
"They're all better dearly," Yukiko said as Other Yu feels better now.
"Feels great, thanks Yuki," Other Yu said using her pet name which makes Other Yukiko blush at his sweet words.
"My pleasure just doesn't get into more fights recklessly like that," she said.
"I will do my best," Other Yu said as he gives her a proper deep kiss with Other Yukiko enjoying herself.
"Gee get a room, you two," Other Chie said as she sits on a chair getting her beef jerky from a bag. "This is so good," O. Chie said.
"Quit it, we should be focusing right now," O. Yukiko said.
"Don't sweat it Yukiko, we wait for all the towers to appear around Inaba and then we can save this world from the Chaos," Other Chie said.
"It will not be easy, we have to deal with the fake versions of us," Other Yu said.
"Pretty weird to see them here. They took a different path than we did," Other Chie said.
"Like we had a choice when it comes to us," Other Yukiko said as they all remember how they got here.
"The Grand Cross," Other Yu said as he remembers the pain of being torn to pieces by the violent stoppage of the Earth's axis. He was only a kid when this happened and everything between this and his rebirth is nothingness.
"We have been given a second chance. We can't waste it, the Other Side needs us to complete this mission," Yukiko said.
"Those fake versions of us are protecting that town in the middle of nowhere," Other Chie said.
"Also, myself here could be quite the problem if the whole World Ender thing is real," Other Yu said.
"Indeed, I am worried about this too," an older man said within their radio earpieces.
"Sir, we need to complete the mission first before doing anything about the group," Other Yu said.
"I know, the towers will be coming up one by one with a demonic crystal to power it up," the man said.
"Mister Taichi, where are the others?" Other Yu asked.
"They are doing some recon within the shadows. Seems like the government is already trying to cover up the Demons and Personas. After what happened with the Phantom Thieves I can't blame them," Taichi said.
"They can't be so selfish to protect this little town when the world is at stake," Other Yu said as they continue their plans with the demonic tower looming over the town of Inaba.
Elsewhere with the night still young. Yu, Rise, Chie, Yukiko, Yosuke, Kanji, Naoto, Teddie, and Marie are in Adi's house to watch the news about the battle within the Shopping District. Chie's back is still hurting as Kanji helps her up.
"Okay Senpai, I am going to do this," Kanji said as he gives her a quick jab to the back to give her sharp pain but shortly after fixing up her back.
"Wow, that did the trick. Thanks," Chie said.
"No prob," Kanji said as everyone gets comfortable in the living room. Adi got them boxes of pizza to place on the table.
"Well guys, I ordered some pizza and some drinks. This talk is going to take a while to get through," Adi said as everyone grab a slice.
"Oh pepperoni, my favorite," Yu said.
"I know right, so gooey," Yusuke said.
"Too cheesy," Yukiko said.
"Hey Yukiko, no guy likes a woman who can't eat. Look at your friend Chie," Adi said as Chie is enjoying herself biting into a slice of pizza.
"Goodness, this is so good. These cheesy bread are great too," Chie said.
"Really?" Yukiko asked.
"Yep, no one wants to fuck a stick figure," Adi said as Yukiko is offended by this.
"I am not a stick figure, right guys?" she asked as everyone looked away with sheepish expressions. "Seriously guys," Yukiko complained.
"Well, you can afford to cheese your diet a bit," Chie said.
"Yeah no one wants to eat with someone who feeds like a rabbit, pretty boring," Kanji said.
"I can ditto that," Rise said as she gladly eats her pizza with Yukiko sighing.
"Oh my, this is amazing," Teddie said as he is chowing down slices and breadsticks.
"Hey Teddie, stop it. Don't eat too much," Adi said.
"I am a growing bear," Teddie said as Adi looked on with doubt to see his slim figure.
"Sorry Teddie but you are looking like a K-pop reject. I doubt it," Adi said as Teddie stops to sit in his chair.
"Oh, you can have my breadsticks, Teddie," Yukiko said.
"Thank you, Yukiko," Teddie showing a big grin.
"Okay enough with that. We need to know what is happening," Naoto said as she is sitting on Kanji's lap to enjoy her food.
"Oh, you are so cute sitting there," Adi teases her as Naoto is blushing from this.
"Well, it's comfortable and that is why I am sitting here," Naoto said.
"Nonsense, you just want to be close to your sweetheart," Adi said.
"And she is pretty soft. Very soft," Kanji said as he is glowing in the face stopping some naughty thoughts in his head.
"Oh, I bet. You are so cute and small," Adi said as this is making Naoto feel embarrassed.
"I am not small," Naoto said.
"How tall are you again?" Adi asked as Naoto looked down at her tiny feet not able to hide her blushing.
"5 foot tall," she said as Kanji holds her on by the waist to keep her close to his chest.
"Yeah but she is fine the way she is," Kanji said.
"Oh Kanji," she said with a soft voice which Kanji adores.
"So adorable," Rise said as she drinks her tea.
"Man, you guys never change," Marie said as she is laughing along with all the silly antics happening in the room.
"Yeah you guys got older but you're all still the same goofballs," Adi said as she composes herself. "Okay, time to get into the mood. I will tell you what is going on here," she said.
"What is going on? Sensei?" Yu asked.
"Well, I will tell you some uneasy truths and you need to keep them in mind. The first truth is this world is not the original one," Adi said as everyone is very confused by this.
"The original world?" Chie asked.
"What does that mean," Naoto said.
"Well, it all started with a young group of Persona Users like you trying to fight an evil being known as Nyarlathotep. They were caught up in some game that involved the fate of Humanity between Nyarlathotep and Philemon. They managed to reach the end of their adventure but the evils of humankind won in the end. Nyarlathotep put his final plan which involved the death of over 6 billion on earth," Adi said as everyone is pretty depressed by this.
"That is crazy, the bad guy got away with it," Chie said.
"This guy seems very powerful to do that," Marie said.
"Well, he is the being made from all of humanity's vices and evils in the world," Adi said.
"So, he is like the devil?" Naoto asked as she is surprised as everyone but she is trying to keep her cool despite failing due to the vastly heavy topic they are talking about.
"Pretty much, so Philemon gave the heroes a choice. To make a new timeline so they can correct their mistakes but it came at a heavy price. So that is how this world was formed and the Original world was left behind, now dubbed the Other Side," Adi said as the gang is quite interested in this.
"That is crazy," Yukiko said.
"I told you this is going to be uncomfortable but it's the truth. There are prime versions of you walking in this world," Adi said.
"If I didn't see the Other Yu with my own two eyes. I wouldn't believe this," Rise said.
"What about us and our other versions," Yu said as everyone is trying to recover from this dark story.
"Well, this is just going to get worse. The second truth is your original selves are dead on the Other Side. The Grand Cross event was the thing that killed almost all the humans on earth in the Other Side along with the planet's ecosystem as well reducing it to a lifeless rock," Adi said as the gang are surprised again.
"We are dead there," Chie said.
"Yes, you were only small children when this happened but you died in very violent painful ways along with the rest who were not so lucky to survive this," she said.
"What do you mean survived?" Naoto asked.
"Well, there is a place called the Floating City which allows the humans of the Other Side to survive the Grand Cross event. They needed Persona Users to protect themselves from the wasteland and ruins filled with Demons. They pulled souls from the Sea of Souls which is where they found your original versions. They put their souls into new bodies and trained them to fight for the sake of mankind," Adi said.
"They are heroes of that?" Kanji asked.
"Yes they are and now they want to stop the Chaos to prevent it from spreading. Their scheme is pretty evil through," Adi said.
"What is the Chaos?" Marie asked being interested in this.
"Truth number 3 due to this world being a copy of the original caused the Chaos to be formed. There was never meant to be two worlds like this, Philemon's gamble has failed. He has caused something that is beyond anything his servants can do to stop it," Adi said.
"That sucks," Yosuke said.
"Yeah it does, this is very overwhelming," Teddie said very sad about this.
"Yeah tell me about it," Kanji said.
"I can stop if you need a breather," Adi said.
"No, we need to know this," Yu said.
"I agree," Naoto said as the rest nod their heads in agreement.
"Cool, cool. There is a being trying to hold back the sea of Chaos from spreading into both worlds. Her name is Ion," Adi said.
"Who is that?" Marie asked sounding curious.
"She is a powerful being born from the thoughts of humankind on the Other Side. She went on her stop the Chaos but she can't hold it off forever, she is buying time for us," Adi said.
"She is pretty brave," Marie said.
"Indeed, she is. Brave, beautiful, strong, and kind to all. She is very similar to you Marie," Adi said.
"Me?" Marie asked.
"Yes you are both goddesses born from Humankind," Adi said.
"What does the Chaos do?" Rise asked.
"Well, it eats away time and space even now Chaos is leaking into this world. That is why you can use Personas in the real world now due to the barriers being weakened to allow this. If it's not stopped, the world will be turned into a timeless void where time and space mean nothing anymore. A place of limbo where life and death merged into a blurry reality," Adi said.
"That sounds like hell to me," Kanji said.
"Yeah I think so too," Adi said as everyone is emotionally drained by all this ominous information.
"Gee, this is way worse than the fog," Chie said.
"Can this get any worse?" Yosuke wondered.
"It does, truth number 4 the plan our enemies are doing is very extreme," Adi said.
"What is that plan?" Naoto asked as Adi takes in a deep breath.
"That tower is the key to their plan. 8 of them will show up to encircle Inaba and activate a demonic circle which will kill the townsfolks here and takes their souls," Adi said as everyone is horrified by this.
"What!?" everyone said at once with Chie slamming her fist onto the table.
"That is insane, greater good my ass," Chie said.
"That sounds pretty selfish Chie," Adi said trying to gauge her reaction.
"Who cares if it does? This place is my home, everyone I care about is here. Without them, lives feel empty," Chie said as she is speaking for everyone there with them nodding their heads in agreement.
Adi smiles at the bold young lady. "That is why I like you so much Chie, you are straightforward with your words," she said as Chie glows in the face.
"Oh, I was only speaking from the heart," Chie said.
"Well, that's all I know about their plan. A basic level of it is enough for us to form a plan," Adi said.
"Sounds good to me, we should seek out that tower and see how it ticks," Yu said.
"Of course," Adi said as Naoto is curious about something.
"How do you know about this?" she asked.
"Oh, easy. Truth number 5 I was born in the Other Side," Adi said as everyone is caught off guard by this. Chie feels tired from all this and slams her head onto the table.
"Seriously?" Rise asked.
"Yes, I was born and raised in the Floating City. It was pure beauty in a sea of decay and rot. I have grown to love this world when I was living here. Inaba is a pure place of beauty as well, I don't want it to be destroyed by my people," Adi said.
"Thanks for telling us, that piece of info seems personal," Yu said.
"It's okay, you are all my friends. Also, before I left I stole those Fusion Gems," she hands all to the group. "You can merge with your Personas to become more powerful, you get to wear some badass outfits like the other groups," Adi said.
"Hey, are you saying we are lame," Yosuke protested.
"Well, the Shadow Operatives are government agents and the Phantom Thieves are master thieves of the heart. So, you are the third rate in terms of coolness but the first-rate in terms of my heart," Adi said.
"That's good as a guess," Yosuke said.
"Yeah I know right," Chie said.
"Don't worry dumb and dumber, you are cool with me," Adi joked as she laughed to tease them.
"What, we are not like that," both of them said as the others laughed along with them.
"Wait a minute, who is dumb or dumber?" Yosuke questioned.
"Easy Chie is dumber," Adi joked as everyone laughs for Chie is flustered.
"Why I am dumber?" she asked as Adi gave her a nasty look that makes her feel like pissing herself.
"At least Yosuke didn't burn my kitchen down while trying to make Flambe like a freaking dumbass," Adi said as her fearsome stare burns into her mind.
"I was trying to be fancy," Chie said as Adi laughs at this to hold onto her chest.
"You fancy, that is a good joke," Adi said as the rest are following along with Chie laughing as well.
"Me fancy, it's pretty dumb right," Chie said as the dreadful mood has been lifted a bit.
"Okay, we have an idea what to do now. Go to that tower and find out what is going on here," Naoto said.
"Yes, we need to prepare for this. Take your time and we will go to the tower. Our meeting is done," Adi said as everyone is enjoying their time with Yu wanting to talk with Adi.
"Sensei I need to know something. What is the World Ender?" Yu asked as Adi looks confused by this.
"I have no clue, what you are talking about," Adi said.
"The demon mention it to me and treats me like a bad guy," Yu said.
"Sorry, I don't know but these guys see you as the bad guys. You are stopping them from doing their duty to save the world but we will find another way to fix this without doing genocide. Ion has given us time with her holding off the Chaos," Adi giving him some comfort with Yu still thinking about it.
"Me destroying the world," Yu ponders on this as they continue to enjoy themselves at Adi's house for their mission to save Inaba once again begins.