We faced my Shadow döppelganger right as we were getting closer to Nanako and Namatame, and it was frankly ill timing that we had done so. On the one hand, that answered a question I had asked myself: since my friends had all awakened their Personae by facing their Shadows, while I hadn't, for whatever reason, then whoever my Shadow was had been unaccounted until now. On the other hand, the downright malicious air I felt from my Shadow self was downright disconcerting, and after Rise conducted a quick analysis on the Shadow she told us to prepare for a long and painful battle.
Like every other Shadow we had faced up to that point, Shadow me taunted the real me. "Why are you even bothering with these weaklings? We both know the true power of a Wild Card, and just between you and me these people you call your friends are unnecessary." That cavalier disregard for my friends took me aback, but a small part within me was uncannily silent in its lack of denial. "Tell me! You're only surrounding yourself with these losers, because you want to fancy yourself a king in a small town." The toothy rictus grin my Shadow gave me unsettled me, and I looked towards the others, hoping they wouldn't take my Shadow's reflections too personally. Shadow Yu continued, "keeping around that Hanamura boy because his dad manages Junes, and without that you can't play superhero. Being friends with Satonaka because she's good at kicking things. Getting close to Amagi, Tatsumi, and Shirogane because they're all heirs to important local businesses. Keeping Marie close because she looked pitiful, and Teddie because he makes you look better in comparison. And most of all", I dreaded my Shadow blowing open my relationship with Rise to the party at large, "being Risette's best friend so you can brag to your friends back in the city about it!" I tried to deny what my Shadow was saying, but the more rational part of me didn't; I didn't want to drive it berserk and make us fight for our lives. All the same, I couldn't accept him, either, and I felt my confident façade crack a bit more.
"Tell you what, my other self. Why don't we have a bit of... fun?" Shadow me taunted me, and continued, "I am thou, thou art I after all. Let's go, one on one. If any of you fools try and intervene, I'll go berserk... and you wouldn't want that to happen, not with our precious Nanako on the line." A part of me was relieved that even my Shadow self cared for Nanako, and not wanting to jeopardize my team even further, I accepted his desire for a one on one duel.
Our fight began with a few exploratory slashes. I managed to parry most of them, but I felt my muscles tighten up just as Shadow me kept on the warpath. "All the bonds you've faced are only to make me - no, us - much stronger. Don't you agree, my other self?", Shadow me taunted real me again, implying I was simply using people to gain the power of a Social Link. Which wasn't entirely false, but I wanted to believe my bonds with the people of Inaba were true friendships, and I already had quite a few of them, like my friendship with the sports team captains Kou and Daisuke, or even people outside Yasogami like Eri-san, stepmother to my daycare charge Yuuta-kun. As I hung out with them I wasn't just doing so because it would make monsters I summoned from the Sea of Souls - I told myself it was because I really wanted to get to know them.
"Come on! Take me seriously! Ziodyne!" I was shocked (pun fully intended) as Shadow me sent me to the ground with an electric attack. I stood up, readying my counterattack, and surprised that Shadow me could use magical abilities without the need of a Persona. We continued our duel, and even with my Wild Card abilities I felt I was losing, slowly but surely.
Shadow me had cornered the real me, and as I scrambled through my own Personae my own Shadow had me near defeated, his katana held up high over me, ready to finish me off. At that point, however, I felt a strong gust of wind, and Yosuke smiled at me, even as I rejoiced that my Shadow hadn't completely broken our link. He told me not to worry, that he had this. Shadow me decried what he felt was cheating on our part, but Yosuke pointed out that the duel's rules didn't explicitly ban a substitution.
So the two of them - that is, Shadow me and Yosuke - continued where we had left off, but even Yosuke's determination was wavering. I motioned to him that'd tag in for him, as he was floored by an ill-timed Ziodyne, and the Prince of Junes subbed out, to be attended to by Yukiko and Teddie. Round 2 of my duel came in, and again our swords clashed between each other, and the fight looked a bit to be tilted in his favor still. Rise then reminded me that we had one advantage - we had her, and it was having a Navigator that was our secret weapon against Shadow me. With that in mind, I continued where we left off, and now it looked for once that I had the upper hand against this, until Shadow me made his move.
Realizing that I was so close to defeating my Shadow and accepting it, my other self then leaped past me, aimed his blade at Rise, and threatened us now that our Navigator was at my other self's mercy. "Make a wrong move, and I'll end your precious Rise," my Shadow taunted me. Rise, for her part, gave him a defiant glare, and simply nodded at me with a look that said "trust me". I couldn't bear to see the woman I loved in such peril - especially since her Persona wasn't suited to direct combat - but I knew she was cooking something up, and as I raised me hands up all hell broke loose.
"
Amaterasu! Maragidyne!" "
Rokuten Maou! Ziodyne!" "
Ame-no-Uzume! Freidyne!" rang out three voices, and I saw Chie leap in and take Rise away from my Shadow self. Once again, my friends had bailed me out, even in spite of seeing the worst part of me. Then again, I had seen their worst kept secrets, and didn't judge them for that, and that even fueled my friendships with them. So why should I be any more different?
"Don't forget about me, partner!" Yosuke then cried out, and once more he was crossing blades with Shadow me, and was even gaining the upper hand. For a brief second, however, I worried as I felt Jiraiya fade from my pal's side, but another part of me knew what was coming. "Come,
Susano-o! Magarudyne!" I saw my friend's new Persona, with the frog-like ninja being replaced by a guy wearing shades and a fiery hairdo, and surrounded by a giant shuriken blade. Susano-o then floored my Shadow self with its wind attack, and soon Shadow me was at their mercy.
Just before I could confer with my Shadow self and accept him, however, Shadow me stood up, gave us all a smirk, and said "This isn't all over. My other self... we'll see each other again." He then disappeared into the aether, and I wondered if something had happened to my Persona power.
Most of my Personae were still there, but worryingly, I couldn't summon Izanagi at all.
----
After a quick rest, bolstered by some provisions and the fox's services, we soldiered on, and on the eighth floor we heard Namatame's voice complaining about us getting in his way, and that he wouldn't hand over Nanako, no matter what. So we dispatched the Shadow in front of us, then on we went, with my friends doing most of the heavy work as I found myself going through the motions. Then on to the ninth floor, and Nanako's voice rent my heart as I heard her call for her dad and me to save her. We were very close to her now...
At last, when we came to the final floor, I could feel a powerful presence behind it, and Rise warned us that our battle with Namatame could take a dangerous turn. So as I opened the door, I spotted the former councilman, dragging my little sis by the arm, and looked like he was running away from us. Poor Nanako looked exhausted and ill, and given her frail health and the TV World's effect on the bodies of those who hadn't awakened I knew her life was in danger in the grasp of this madman. Namatame then ran up a dais, holding Nanako close to him as he held her hostage, as she called out to me her big bro. Naoto confirmed the man we were chasing was indeed Namatame. Then he cackled, recognizing my friends as the people he "saved", and Kanji and Yukiko took offense at that, angered at thinking that their lives being put into danger was somehow "saving" them. Namatame continued, saying that he was just saving my cousin, but my big bro instinct took over, and I chased after the deliveryman, my friends in my wake.
We then interrogated Namatame, confirming his knowledge of the Midnight Channel and that he was the one who was throwing people into the TV. As to his motives, he declared again that he was saving them, and even if that sounded outlandish, a part of me thought he had a point. After all, from his perspective, Yukiko, Kanji, Rise, and Naoto were all thrown into the TV, but re-emerged days later safe and sound. But that didn't matter to me at that moment because the fact that he endangered my little sis meant that he really sounded insane to me. Plus, could we take him at his word, when from our perspective he put my friends and now Nanako in mortal peril?
He told us how he saw people on the Midnight Channel, and therefore targeted those he saw on the TV, and threw them in to "save them". Rise then wondered if that was because it meant she and the others were able to face their true selves, but that it nearly got them all killed, and I felt part of me deflate at the fact that we weren't able to truly face my own. Yosuke then raged at Namatame, telling him how him "saving people" was in fact murdering them, the fate of poor Saki-senpai still on his mind.
Things then escalated, as Namatame declared himself the true hero, and as he raised Nanako into his arms a vast multitude of Shadows congregated on the former councilman, and we were then facing a powerful monstrosity.
----
The new entity we were facing looked like a misshapen man with an oversized head, with red and black striped skin, wearing an oversized shirt with the Love and Peace symbols on it, and crowned by a giant red peace symbol ring. "It's called
Kunino-sagiri,", Rise called out, warning us of its immense power.
I rushed in to save my little sis from Kunino-sagiri, but that proved to be my big mistake. I had Seth at the ready, and I was about to blast the giant Shadow when it made the two-fingered peace sign, and suddenly my head was crowned with the same symbol.
I was no longer in control of myself, and once again I heard a familiar, taunting voice as my powers were now turned against my friends. "Yosuke, that overly perverted idiot. Chie, she who thinks with her kicks more than her head. Yukiko, who has her head in the clouds too much to truly contribute to the investigation. Kanji, who's too dumb to make up his mind. Rise, that overly flirty slut who came on too strongly to you that you had no choice but to accept her. Teddie, that fluff-headed bear who embarrasses you on the regular. Marie, who you only dragged into your fight because she was too insistent. And Naoto, the detective with no social skills. You call these your friends?" My Shadow self taunted me again from within my mind, denigrating my friends as I struggled to pull off Kunino-sagiri's mind control ring. But it was too much; Seth blew my friends away with a Magarudyne, hitting Kanji the hardest. Then my mind switched to Siegfried, flooring them with an Akasha Arts. Then to Mara, the phallic charioteer blasting them with a Maralagidyne, Chie and Marie taking the brunt of the blow. I couldn't help but watched as my body and mind ravaged my friends with my own power.
"Big bro", I then heard Nanako say. I was gaining the willpower to resist Kunino-sagiri, but I felt its power push back at me all the same. Rise then stood up, despite having endured an onslaught of my attacks, and the love of my life faced me, her resolve burning anew. I felt Himiko fade back into the Sea of Souls, and now I knew she was on the verge of another awakening. "
Kanzeon! Full Analysis!" Her new Persona was similar to Himiko, but with its plain white dress replaced by a black and white striped dress. The radar scanner on its head grew larger, with its golden accents replaced by red, and the golden visor Rise used was now red as well.
I watched, transfixed, as Rise managed to pinpoint a weak spot in the peace halo over my head, which Naoto expertly aimed at and shot. Her shot was remarkably steady, and without Rise's help and her marksmanship I'd have been dead for sure. So the halo came crashing down, and I rushed in as Kunino-sagiri had dropped Nanako, and without me riding on the back of Cerberus, another Persona I had gotten, she'd have been a goner too.
Running back to my friends with Nanako in tow, I entrusted her to Rise, and Yukiko, Teddie and I started to heal our team to prepare for what the giant Shadow had next. Unfortunately for us, Kunino-sagiri took control of my friends instead, and now I was going to bear the brunt of their attacks, even against their will. I swapped to Rangda to take the blows, hoping the Magician Persona's ability to reflect physical attacks would come in handy, apologizing to my friends all the while. Still, that didn't stop me from being zapped by Kanji's Ziodyne, or my mind getting shredded by Marie's Psiodyne, or Naoto's Makougaon burning my sight. I was almost a dead man...
Then I heard a "I've got them, partner!" call from Yosuke, who had somehow broken free from his mind control, and even if I don't know what happened, I like to assume it was because he had just recently awakened his new Persona. Rise as well was unaffected, and she told me to trust the two of them as they would hold my friends back. That left me to face Kunino-sagiri alone, and I knew I had just one chance to make sure everyone wasn't hurt.
I switched to a new Persona that Margaret had warned me about, but I knew based on everything I had faced in this cognitive heaven, that I would be up for it.
"Come,
Yoshitsune!" I cried out, and the historical samurai appeared by my side, wielding his own katana alongside my own blade. "Hassou Tobi!" I cried out, and my Persona and I moved in sync, his slashes mirroring mine, and together we cut down the hippie Shadow. That left Taro Namatame behind for us to deal with, and for all his crimes, he would have to face the music.
----
I rushed back to Nanako's side, being held in Rise's arms. The two girls I had come to cherish the most, fancy that. I took Nanako from Rise, and decided to carry her out of the TV World, as Teddie warned us that it would be too dangerous for her. I heard Yosuke reluctantly admit that they had to carry out Namatame as well, and he and Kanji dragged the deliveryman with them.
As we exited the TV, Ren-kun had been waiting for us, and looked distraught at the sight of Nanako, unconscious in my arms. As calmly as I could, I asked our auxiliary member to contact an ambulance, as Nanako looked like she needed medical attention despite not having any apparent injuries. Her small body felt rather cold in my arms, and the rise and fall of her chest was the sign I needed to know she would be all right.
We all then waited outside Nanako's hospital room, with visitors not allowed. Ren-kun told me how the last time he was here was when he accompanied his mother for a visit to her doctor, where she had an ultrasound to check on her unborn child's health, which also revealed Ren-kun was right about having a baby sister of his own. Teddie, for his part, was second to me in terms of worrying about Nanako, noting how her young age and purity meant that she didn't have to face her other self (while her big bro did, and was saved from it only by pure happenstance). Naoto berated herself, saying that Nanako wouldn't have to go through all this if she had been more thorough. Soon enough everyone followed with their own self-loathing, and I blamed myself as well, wishing that I was more sure in myself. It was Kanji, a guy who hadn't had his 16th birthday yet, who was somehow the most mature amongst us. He told us to stop the pity party and to believe in Nanako, and for a while I felt he was completely right. Namatame was now in custody anyway, so why should we worry? Now all we needed to do was wait for Nanako to recover, and all would be well...
Adachi then arrived, and told us that the doctors were doing all they can for my little sis, and the cops were preparing Namatame for questioning. He advised us to call it a day, and I agreed, as we all really needed some rest after our ordeal. Teddie then hoped Nanako would recover, and my bond with the bear grew stronger once more.
As I got home, however, the feelings of being alone at the Dojima Residence, with both my uncle and my little sis in the hospital, finally got to me, and I sobbed myself to sleep as the façade of Yu Narukami, Suave Badass, finally broke down.
