Persona 4 Golden: Yu and Yukiko's Full and Happy Life Part 7

This is the only way you’ll get anything out of scum like him!” The older detective shouted this at his younger partner as he struck Adachi with a strong jab to his stomach. Adachi winced in pain and struggled to catch his breath for a moment. Funny that bringing up the older detective's past of assaulting suspects during interrogations made him make the same mistake again, the idiot. All Adachi wanted to do was answer the police’s questions about the method used for the murders, have them not believe a single word of what he told them, and go back to his cell. But when the detective decided to make some pretty serious accusations about Dojima, Adachi couldn’t help but throw it right back in his face. It wasn’t that he wanted to defend Dojima or anything. After all, his arrest meant he was no longer his subordinate and any ties he had to him were severed. He just found it annoying when people tried to act all high and mighty and tried to pass themselves off as above other people when that wasn’t the case and it would be better if they just kept their mouth shut, or at least that’s what he convinced himself as to why he did it. Besides, why not have a little amusement before going back to confinement?

Even with the detective having a death-grip on his hair and the threat of getting punched again, Adachi couldn’t help but twist the knife a little more. Adachi’s face contorted into a wicked smile as he egged the older man on even further, listing his infractions from the police’s criminal procedure code.

“It’s probably why your stuck out here in the boonies. What else are they going to do with someone so incompetent they just can’t seem to follow proper procedure? At least having you out in the middle of nowhere means it’s easier to limit the amount of damage you do. You’re an embarrassment to the force. Believe me, I know all about that!” Adachi ended his little tirade with a cackle. He was really mad now!

Adachi closed his eyes and braced himself for another punch, but instead he heard the familiar sound of the hammer being pulled back on a gun. Opening his them again, he saw the detective had his revolver pressed right against the center of his forehead. “You must be Tohru Adachi. I wish to speak with you.” The monotone attribute the older detective's voice possessed sounded zombie-like. He was being controlled. It was abundantly clear that something fishy was going on. Whatever this strange entity was, he ordered that Adachi climb into the TV sitting on the table as evidence. When the younger detective tried to intervene, the mysterious entity sent him running by discharging his firearm into the room’s security camera. Not feeling it would be the best option to try and refuse, Adachi complied with the order but was tossed into the TV with great force after approaching it.

Adachi found himself it what seemed to be a classroom at Yasogami High, but he knew better. Police taping labeled “P-1 Grand Prix,” was everywhere on the walls, not to mention a lot of the room and the surrounding area was damaged, like a fight had taken place. He didn’t really care what it all meant, the sooner he found who forced him here the sooner he could leave.

After wandering the school for a while, he came across the door that lead to the rooftop. He didn’t know what to make of the sight he saw after opening the door. The moon hung low, taking up a significant portion of the sky and it gave off an eerie glow. Crosses where strewn about the rooftop and he swore he saw what looked like the moonlight bridge all mangled up in the distance.

It wasn’t long before a red-haired boy of high school age with two katana’s and an X-shaped scar on his face approached from behind. He introduced himself as “Sho Minazuki,” but that was all the information he would give. Not before Adachi “proved himself.”

Tossing Adachi his familiar revolver, Minazuki demanded that the two fight.

“Don’t you think it’s a bad idea to give a murderer a gun? You could end up seriously, hurt you know.” Minazuki only smiled, “I’d welcome it. This is very much a fight for your life. If you don’t come at me like you are trying to kill me, you won’t survive.” Adachi smirked, “You’re a cocky one, aren’t you?”

Adachi’s grin was quickly erased when Minazuki closed the distance between the two in an instant, almost taking his head clean off in one swing. Minazuki’s attacks were relentless, and despite having a firearm, Adachi had no chance to fire a single shot, his only option was to dodge. This was the most Adachi had to move in a while, maybe his incarceration made him a bit rusty? He continued to avoid Minazuki’s attacks until he took a large horizontal swing with both swords. Adachi was barely able to avoid it, but such a big attack left Minazuki open for the first time, which he capitalized on. Adachi slammed the butt of his gun into the red-haired boy’s face causing him to reel back in pain. A solid blow like that would take a normal person a while to recover from, but surprisingly he was back on the offensive within moments, cutting Adachi’s tie in half with another quick slash.

Now with Adachi off balance, the boy swept the feet out from under the former detective. Adachi fell forward and hit the floor with a hard “thud.” Thinking he had him, Minazuki moved in for the kill but was caught off guard when Adachi rolled onto his back and fired. The bullet whizzed straight past Minazuki’s head. He could feel the projectile move through his hair and right over the tip of his ear. A little more to the right and it would have been bad news. Adachi kept his revolver trained on Minazuki while he in turn had the tip of one of his Katana’s against the Adachi’s throat. A few more seconds passed before Minazuki lowered his weapon, satisfied.

“Yes…I can use you. You will prove a valuable asset in creating “his world.””

Adachi’s ears perked up and he got back onto his feet. “His world? Now you have my attention. Tell me more…”

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“Yuuuuu stop! It’s almost time!” Both lovers were sitting on the floor in front of the TV, Yu’s hands slipped under his wife’s fiery red maternity dress and giving his wife the back massage of her life. Yu knew better. The playfulness and longing in her voice was actually Yukiko’s way of saying “Keep going. Don’t you dare let up!”

Yu leaned forward and whispered in his wife’s ear, “You know I can’t help myself when I’m around you. You’re just too irresistible.” He planted kiss after kiss up and down the side of Yukiko’s neck, her light cooing pushing him to give her even more. They were still on their little vacation and that meant Yu did everything he could to make sure the two most important people in his life were relaxed, and of course, well-fed. Though it had only been a few days since the end of the P1 Grand Prix, the constant indulgences the Yu provided for the love of his life meant that she had put on a few more pounds. It was always clear as day to Yu whenever Yukiko’s weight increased, something he attributed to all the physical contact, sexual or otherwise, that the two could never help but share. Of course, most the weight settled in the regions you’d expect. Her thick thighs, wide hips, round ass, heavy breasts, and inflating stomach all soaked up a significant portion of the calories she consumed, furthering her appearance as a otherworldly fertility goddess in Yu’s eyes. However, those weren’t the only regions where soft and pillowy fat was accumulating on the girl. Just like almost everywhere else, Yukiko’s back had grown a lot more “supple.” Her shoulder-blades hand disappeared under a nice layer of pudge and Yu could pinch off way more than an inch as he continued to work on her back.

“Besides, if something does happen, we need to make sure you’re nice and limber.

Yukikio gripped her stomach even harder when Yu started to work in his elbows in during the rub down, causing her doughy flesh to seep through her fingertips even further than they already had. She couldn’t stop herself from letting out a content moan and one of her hands moved from her belly to a strap on her dress. She swore that if the second midnight hit, and this night was like all the others, she was going to undo her dress as fast as she could and pounce on her man.

What they were waiting for of course was to see if the midnight channel would be on tonight. With the true culprit behind the P-1 Grand Prix and Labrys’s kidnapping still at large, they had been keeping tabs on the midnight channel to see if anything appeared that could help them solve the case. So far, the midnight channel had been quiet. That was going to change tonight.

Both lovers’ eyes went wide and they ceased their late-night spooning when they heard the TV in their room suddenly turned on to static. When the picture cleared up, it revealed what looked like a wrestling ring and like a wrestling promotion, an enthusiastic announcer rang out.

“The strong win while the weak disappear. Tonight, we will witness and the hottest battles in all out history. The goddess of victory is waiting to descend upon the ring. P-1 fans, are you ready? ARE YOU READY!?!”

Suddenly, lights illuminated the stage revealing Teddie in a familiar ridiculous military general costume. The imposter Teddie. Hanging off him in a bikini like a scantily clad showgirl was Rise. No, that had to be a fake Rise as well. No amount of trickery or brainwashing could get Rise to stand like that and wearing so little with Teddie, real or fake.

“Time to let loose…”

“AN ALL OUT WAR!” General Teddie finished.
Again, like a wrestling promotion, little vignettes were show showcasing everyone who participated in the P-1 Grand Prix.

The announcer declared they were all going to participate in one final fighting tournament, the P-1 Climax. With a swing of his scepter, General Teddie set up off pyro across the stage before the stream cut out. Afterwards, static again filled the screen accompanied by a ten second countdown.

Yu’s cellphone on the nearby nightstand started to ring, but he was so tangled up with his wife, he could not reach it before the countdown on the TV hit zero. Not only did the TV shut off automatically, but all the lights still on in the Inn, the lights outside, all the lights in the whole town shut off. Even Yu and Yukiko found that both their cell phones did not work. Whatever was going on, it knocked out everything electrical.

Both expectant parents stood in the dark for a moment before the mysteriously TV turned back on, revealing General Teddie with a sinister smirk. Yukiko couldn't help but let out a little snicker at the Fake Teddie's getup. "pfff...that hat! We need to get our Teddie an outfit like that!"

“Heya everybody! Sorry for the long wait! I hope you all haven’t gotten soft during our little intermission. Well, I think it was inevitable for ONE of you, though you were pretty soft to begin with...” he said while chomping on his cigar.

“Like I’d expect a villain like you to understand what a mother would do for her child…” Yukiko whispered under her breath, knowing he was referring to her. Of course, she hadn’t stopped prepping and baby-proofing her body for her son’s arrival. What kind of mother wouldn’t be doing her best at all times?

“The P-1 Climax is sure to be the end all be all fighting tournament worthy of the name. It’s literally the end! I mean it, if this tournament doesn’t reach its conclusion before the hour is up, this world will be toast!” As the fake Teddie spoke, his eyes became a bright yellow and his voice became overlaid with another voice that could only be described as “demonic.”

“I don’t think I need to explain this, but I will anyway. You are not in the TV world, this is YOUR world. So, I suggest you use the time you have been given wisely.”

After saying this, the Fake Teddie changed back into his normal, “cheery” self. “Oh! I also have on more surprise for you! Enjoy!” Yu and Yukiko gasped when the image changed to show what looked like Mitsuru and her shadow operatives, crucified upon a plethora of crosses. Before either had a chance to inspect further to see if they were alright, the screen cut back to the grinning Fake Teddie. “Oh dear, I wonder how our little Queen and her peons ended up in such a predicament, or what is going to happen to them? I guess it doesn’t really matter, if our champion doesn’t appear soon, they’ll die just like the rest of you. Time is ticking…”

This time the TV shut off for good. Yu’s mind raced. How did the Fake Teddie get a hold of the Shadow operatives? Last time the Fake Teddie turned out to be Labrys’s shadow and she wasn’t shown with the others, did something happen to her? Or is this Fake Teddie the real mastermind? What happens after an hour passed? Was that really Mitsuru? Or was it more fakes? Either way it could be a trap...

Yu’s train of thought was interrupted when he heard Yukiko open the door to their room. Despite her bloated form, Yukiko was in what looked like a fighting stance, her face filled with determination. “Let’s go Hubby! We got work to do!”

One would think Yu would be surprised by his heavier wife’s energy and vigor but he wasn’t surprised in the slightest. With their friends, not to mention the world, in danger, she wasn’t going to let a little weight slow her down. Her drive to help however she could was just another one of the countless reasons he was madly in love with her. He grabbed the lunches he had prepared beforehand if their mysterious enemy made his next move and the two went hand in hand out the door.

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“Damn it!” Yosuke said out loud as he booked it down the street. He tried giving Yu a call after watching the midnight channel, but his phone, along with everything else, stopped working before he got an answer. From the looks of it, now they were all expected to participate in another fighting tournament. But who would they be fighting? The trick before that got them to fight each other wasn’t going to work twice now that everyone was wise to what was going on. So, he was heading toward the inn to meet with their leader to plan out the best course of action. He felt he should have gotten there by now, but after the lights went out a red fog had taken a grip on the town and it impeded his progress along with something a lot more talkative.

“Come on Ted! What’s the holdup!?!?” Yosuke shouted back to Teddie who was trailing farther behind him. “You have…slow down…these stubby legs aren’t made…for running,” the out of breath June’s mascot complained. “We don’t have time for that! You heard what your fake said. We only have an hour to solve this thing. Why don’t you just take that thing off.”

“I just want to be clear that that unlicensed Teddie is in no way affiliated with the real thing! And take this off? If we are going into battle I need all the protection I need. Think of how disappointed all the beautiful ladies would be if something were to happen to my handsome face…”

“Oh please, when has your “charm” ever actually WUAAAAHHH!!!” Yosuke fell backward onto his ass when he suddenly turned the corner and ran into a mysterious figure. Funnily enough, the unknown person had the exact same reaction. “Geez Yosuke, you jerk! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Stepping out of the fog, the person revealed themselves to be Chie. “Hey wait a minute! You almost did the same thing to me! I think I broke something…”

Chie didn’t show any concern at all, there was only one thing on her mind.

“Were you able to get a hold of Yukiko or Yu at all? Is your phone working?” Yosuke brushed himself off as he got to his feet, “No, I couldn’t get a hold of Yu before everything turned off. Were heading to the Inn now. It should be just up the road. Once we find Yu we can start looking for everyone else.”

Once they arrived at the Inn, they found it strangely abandoned just like the rest of the town. With the town completely dark, the red fog, and not a soul around, the group found themselves on edge. Not having Yu around made them realize just how much his presence helped calmed their nerves. “Y-Y-You don’t think something happened to them do you…” Chie stammered out while whipping her head every which way, half expecting something like a ghosts to appear any minute. Yosuke wanted to say that the two took of on their own, but he couldn’t say for sure. The view the Inn provided gave the group a look at the surrounding landscape. “Woah! What the heck is that?” Yosuke said. Judging by the area, what they should be seeing was their school, but instead what they saw was a thin, dark tower, piercing into the sky. Strange towers appearing out of nowhere? It had to be the work of whoever was behind all this. “If they did leave by themselves I’d say that’s where they would be heading, Yo Teddie, can’t you use that nose of yours and sniff them out?”

Teddie took a few steps forward, trying his best to pick up on Yu or Yukiko’s scent but he quickly gave up. “I’m sorry Yosuke, I just can’t pick up anything in all this fog. It’s even worse than the fog that was in the TV world if you can believe it.”

“Should have known better than to ask someone as worthless as Teddie for help. He can’t do anything right.” Teddie took offense to Yosuke words, “Hey! I’m trying my beary best! Let’s see you try and put YOUR nose to good use!” All Yosuke did was shake his head, “I didn’t say that dude…”

“Come on, we all know you were thinking it. When was the last time that nose trick ever worked?” Coming up the path and emerging through the fog was…another Yosuke? Sure enough, that’s what it was, the only difference being this one had piercing yellow eyes and a cruel grin on his face. He was balancing a Kunai by its tip on one of his fingers.

“A Shadow!?!?” Chie shouted. “Oh, it isn’t just any regular old shadow…” The group quickly turned to see General Teddie on a monitor that seemingly appeared from nowhere. “You’ll find that this shadow has a few tricks up his sleeve!”

“PERSONA!” The shadow sneered. Shockingly, Yosuke’s persona, Jiraiya appeared in front of shadow Yosuke, rearing up for an attack. “BRACE YOURSELVES!” Yosuke planted his feet firmly into the ground and covered his face as he was blasted with a strong gust of wind. Chie and Teddie weren’t so lucky and were thrown into a side wall of the Amagi Inn. “A persona in the real world?” Chie choked out after she recovered from having the “wind” knocked out of her. Looking up all she saw was Yosuke’s mirrored persona coming straight at her and Teddie for another attack.

“PERSONA!” A second Jiraiya slammed into the first one, stopping his attack. “Yosuke…” Teddie said in a thankful tone. Yosuke had taken a battle position, “Well if he can use a persona outside of the TV world I thought, why can’t I?”

“Finally! I was worried this little tournament was never going to get started! BRING ON THE RING!” Four red pillars fell from the sky and surrounded the two Yosuke’s. “Yosuke don’t worry! I have your back!” Teddie ran to his friend’s aid but upon trying to cross between two of the pillars he ran face first into an invisible wall, the impact sending him rolling.

“You idiot. Didn’t you listen to anything I said before? This tournament is strictly one on one. No interference allowed,” General Teddie said, almost disappointed with himself for sharing an appearance with such a moronic being. “Don’t worry you guys…” Yosuke said taking out his own Kunai. Yu wasn’t here to defeat this new “Shadow Yosuke,” but Yosuke had grown a lot since then and if Yu was able to defeat his shadow while barely knowing what a persona was then this should be cake for him. “I’ll make quick work of this fake, and then let’s find our friends.”

“Looks like we have a mirror match on our hands! In one corner we have the return of our very own Prince of Junes, Captain Ressentiment, talking big and brimming with confidence. But his first challenge is a doozy! He needs to conquer himself, again! No pulled punches, no surrender, fight until the other is in the dirt. The first match of the P-1 Climax has officially begun! GOOOOOO!!!!”

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Rise was at the end of her rope. While coming upon Yasoinaba station, the lights in the train she was riding went out and the train itself ground to a screeching halt. She thought it was a blackout at first, but one look out the window revealed something far more sinister was going on. A crimson red moon had taken a prominent residence in the sky, and what should be the town of Inaba was covered in a thick red fog. Leaving the train her suspicions proved true, using her persona’s special abilities she was able to determine that the readings she was receiving were just like the TV world. With her phone not working the only thing she could do was make a trek into town.

Once arriving she tried desperately to contact any of her friends, but the fog meant connecting to anyone was impossible. She felt discouraged, wondering if the Shadow Operative’s own persona user with the same abilities as her, Fuuka, would be having the same problems.

She wandered aimlessly around the abandoned town, trying to find any signs of life, but to no avail. Just as the idol hit rock bottom and feeling utterly useless, she picked up an extremely strong reading hovering right above her.

“Who's that hiiiiiiiding in the treeeeee tops? It's that raaaaascal, ELIZABEEEETHHHH!” With such a peculiar entrance, a woman clad in a blue dress and sporting white hair dropped from the sky and landed in front of Rise. “Please excuse my inharmonious singing, for someone like the great “Everyone’s Risette,” it must be a bit grating to the ears. You’re an idol are you not? I know what that is. An object used to represent a goddess and worshiped by the masses. I believe I heard one of your…egregious? Erroneous? No! Euphonious melodies on what is called a “compact disc” long ago.”

Rise was going to correct her on what an Idol was but found that her description wasn’t exactly wrong when it came to some of her die-hard fans. Rise recognized her as the “interloper,” that General Teddie was worried about during the P-1 Grand Prix. “Just who are you?” She demanded

Elizabeth bent over and signaled Rise to lean in with a smile. “I’m a maundering elevator attendant who is currently deviating from her assigned duties.” The way she said it and the way she covered her mouth after doing so reminded Rise of a student playing hooky from school. “Deviating from her duties huh?” It reminded Rise of when she tried to quit show business and ran away from her own duties. When she tried to ask Elizabeth if it was okay for her to abandon her duties like that, all she did was tilt her head and ask her to repeat herself, like she didn’t understand the question.

“If I may say Miss Risette, I don’t think lazing about here is a good investation of your time."

"I have been monitoring the state of this town closely and if it’s current course isn’t substituted soon I do believe it will make for a dire situation for you and your friends.”

“Wait do you know something? Is everyone okay?!?!” Elizabeth just shook her head. “Why should I tell you? Isn’t conversationing across long distances your forte?” Rise instantly became dejected, “I can’t do anything with all this fog around. I was worthless for the Grand-Prix, and I’m worthless now. Even Yukiko sempai was able to contribute last time and she is has trouble bending over what with the baby and all…”

Elizabeth grew more and more disinterested as Rise went on about her problems but became instantly more attentive when a pregnant member of the squad was brought up. “A persona user who fights while pregnant? What an anomalous thought! I would very much like to see it. Does the child too possess the power? Do mother and child fight as one? I understand the ritual for obtaining a child is one reserved for the most devoted. Is a sacrifice needed for payment?” Rise was left scratching her head, this woman was indeed strange, but she didn’t come across as “stupid,” it was more she was just “misguided.” When Rise tried to get her back to the task at hand Elizabeth just raised her hand and turned her head away. “I don’t have the equanimity to listen to such drivel from such a wearisome person. Now I must be going…”

For a moment, Rise sunk even lower when the white-haired woman started to walk away, but after thinking about what she was doing she had an epiphany. She couldn’t her give up yet, she had so much more she could do. She just had to keep trying and trying to back up her team however she could until the very end.

Elizabeth was very pleased by Rise’s new resolve when the idol thanked her for helping her open her eyes. “Wonderful! It seems you now realize you yet have more potential that slumbers in you."

"But, if you were to go out into the field as you are now, you will surely be Incinerated…NO! Eviscerated by any shadow you met.” The fact she said something so horrible with a smile on her face was a little off-putting to Rise.

“That is why I want to see if your resolve can stand firm in face of an overwhelming firepower!” Elizabeth summoned a strange black persona that Rise had never seen before, but she could tell it was powerful. Was Elizabeth implying what she thinks she is implying? Is she supposed to fight? Fight that!?!

Though her battle with Elizabeth, Himiko was able to transform and attain new power that would allow her to fight on the frontlines just like her friends. She had even won their little bout but she could tell that Elizabeth was holding back. Afterwards Elizabeth pointed her into the direction of the strange tower that cast its shadow over all of Inaba and told her that the culprit and the final battle would all be fought there. She bid Rise farewell but was stopped once again before leaving.

“Wait! I wanted to thank you again for helping me draw out this new power. And you were asking about compensation earlier for doing so. So, If you really want to know about babies…” Rise played with her shirt and blushed as she whispered to the eager to learn velvet room attendant. Soon, even Elizabeth’s face was painted red and she even started to fan her face with the book she carried.

“Oh my! You don’t say! So that act has a function besides that of giving pleasure. To think this one was so close to unlocking that secret for herself. You say it isn’t something that happens every time? Once my journey had reached it’s end I had every intention of going back to my assigned duties. But with this information, if my journey is successful, maybe there is yet another path possible for me to take…”

Rise was again absolutely dumbfounded by the women. Did this bizarre woman really…?

Elizabeth turned back to Rise once she had calmed down. “Your information was most illuminating. I know I said I didn’t want to get involved before, but I feel as though now I am in YOUR debt. So, I think I saw a boorish brute who might be an acquaintance of yours fighting with himself just down the street over there.”

“Really!?! That has to be Kanji!” Rise said, overjoyed. “Wait! What do you mean fighting with himself?

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It was unsettling for Yu to walk through the halls of the Inn and not seeing another soul around. Even on those late nights when he would head to the kitchen in order to get his lovely wife a midnight snack he would at least run into two or three people. It was probably the emptiest the inn had ever been since it’s founding. Reaching outside, the sight that beheld Yu informed him just how grave the situation was. All of Inaba was dark and blanketed in a suffocating red fog. What’s more, from a menacing looking tower loomed in the distance, over the spot where his school should be.

Yu knew that is where they should be heading. He did wonder if he should wait for his other friends to arrive or to go look for them himself, but with Yukiko in her current condition and time being of the essence he felt there wasn’t any time to waste. If they were going to reach that tower in the time allotted they had to leave now. Leaving Yukiko behind was out of the question. He was not about to leave his wife and child al alone in an empty Inn. She had proven during the P-1 Grand Prix that although she may not be in top physical shape, that she could still be an asset to the team by the way she was able to talk to and befriend Labrys. Not to mention, her healing abilities would definitely come in handy as the night progressed as well. And finally, Yu just felt more at ease when she was around and that having her cheering him on helped him fight to the best of his abilities. Since they couldn’t wait, he trusted his comrades would be heading to the tower as well and if they didn’t find each other on the way, then they would meet up once they got there.

“This reminds me of that movie we watched a few nights ago. *Huff* Do you remember? It was that one where the zombies were chasing that guy *Huff* and he fell down that ravine and broke his leg *huff* leaving him to their mercy? It was foggy just like this. *Huff* That was a good one!”

“Yeah. Haha…” Yu still wondered how Yukiko could find something so terrifying absolutely hilarious. She slept like a pampered little kitten that night while he had to keep opening his eyes whenever he’d hear a creak or a bump.

Yukiko completely understood how serious the situation was but at the same time she didn’t think there was any reason to worry at all. After all, her, her friends, and her hubby had defeated world ending threats on multiple occasions now, and they always came out on top. Why should this time be any different? She and her hubby would never let the world end before they had a chance to bring their son into it. This was almost like a nice family midnight jog to her. Except, “nice” and “jog” didn’t really agree with her anymore.

“You’re so lucky. *huff* You get to see your dada save the world yet again! Isn’t he so amazing?” Yukiko lovingly gave her wobbling belly a tiny pat. Yu turned back to see how his ever softening wife was doing. They had barely gotten off the property for the Inn before he could hear the light huffing and puffing of his raven-haired beauty. Her labored breaths only got worse as time went on, even though Yu had been secretly decreasing his speed for the last few blocks making their jog only half as fast as it was when they started. It seemed anything above a leisurely waddle might as well be a full-on sprint for the expanding mother. The fog didn’t hide the fact that every stride caused Yukiko’s face to contort in discomfort. Moving all that bulk around was no easy task. Almost every inch of his wife bobbed and jiggled. Lacking a sports bra big enough to contain her hefty milk tankers, she had to keep one hand on her breasts to keep them from jostling around too much.

One reason being to reduce the pain from having them slap against the rest of her blubbery body, and the other to keep them from disturbing her son any more than she already was, when they would come crashing down on her bloating belly shelf. Even her rounder face and the beginnings of her small double chin were quivering as she shook her head to power through the burn of her impromptu exercise. Yu was already planning a massive breakfast for the next morning to make up for it. Yu didn’t need to see her tree-trunk sized thighs to know that they were rubbing together something awful. Same with her ass, her gait grew even more exaggerated by the second, and that coupled with her pawing at her wider rear end could only mean that her panties had ridden up in between her cushiony cheeks.

True to her word, the maternity dress she wore now instead of her traditional outfit was a way better fit and a lot less constricting. If she had been wearing her favorite red sweater, it most surely would have been forced up under her massive mammaries and completely exposed her pale stomach to the cool night air, and all that bouncing pudge would have left her ass half hanging out of her skirt as well, if it didn’t explode of her entirely.

“Shame, that would have been quiet the sight,” Yu whispered to himself before quickly giving himself a slap. Coming across a nearby bench Yu stopped with Yukiko slowly crawled to a stop as well. While Yu wasn’t tired in the slightest, Yukiko was hunched over, panting with her tongue hanging out, and her hair was a complete mess.

“Why…*Huff*…did…*Huff**Huff*…you stop? *Huff* I can keep…*huff*…going.” Her assertion that she was fine notwithstanding, Yukiko wasted no time collapsing onto the nearby bench with a hearty smack courtesy of her chair-filling rear. Wouldn’t be long until she took up enough space on the bench for two people. Throwing her head back she wiped the sweat off her forehead and sighed.

“Hopefully after tonight, mama will never have to move like that again.” Neither of the two picked up on the fact that Yukiko admitted that she considered a light jog to be an unsuitable speed for mother like her, or that she said “never” instead of “until after our son is born.” Her only solace at that moment was that her difficult trot didn’t seem to wake the baby, it was past his bedtime after all!

Yu gave his wife a water bottle he had with him, which she slammed down in three huge gulps, and took her shoes off to rub her aching feet. Yukiko tried to protest, but Yu assured her they were making good time, that he was proud and surprised at how fast she was able to move, and that making sure she was ready for what was ahead was just as important. Yukiko closed her eyes, cooing as her hubby made all the tenderness and pain go away. Yu’s suitable hands were enough to lull her into a stupor deep enough that she started to forget where she was or what they were doing, but it all came crashing back to her when through the corner of her eye she saw a shadowy figure, looking at the two through the fog. The fog obscured any facial features, but the shadow of the massive axe the person was holding gave it away who it was immediately.

“Labrys!?!?!” Yukiko shouted, shooting up from her reclined position. Yukiko, quickly sashayed toward the figure, not even taking the time to put her shoes back on.

“Labrys! You’re here! You must have been sucked into this mess too.” Just as Yukiko threw up he flabbier arms to embrace the girl, she was suddenly pulled back by her dress, hard. Thanks to Yu’s quick thinking, the battle axe swung by the mysterious figure missed his confused wife, passing inches from her nose with the blowback from the powerful swing causing her belly and breasts to jiggle wildly. “Watcha do that for? It’s not like you two are gonna be making it any farther. It woulda been quick and painless.” The figure stepped forward out of the fog, revealing itself to indeed have the appearance of the anti-shadow weapon, Labrys. However, the yellow eyes and distortion in her voice could only mean one thing.

“Her shadow?” Yu said, perplexed. “I don’t understand. Labrys accepted her shadow. Why is she back? Did something happen?” Yukiko took a good hard look at this Shadow Labrys. It certainly looked like her, sounded like her, but their were also some variances like the way she moved and some slight differences in the way she expressed herself. Yukiko felt she knew Labrys as well as anyone, even her shadow, and something just seemed wrong.
“Yu, I don’t think that’s really her shadow…” Before Yu could ask her what she meant, A monitor with General Teddie’s image lit up. “Very perceptive! You’re absolutely right! This isn’t really that worthless robot’s Shadow, but a replica created especially for this tournament. But don’t let that fool you. Even if she’s a fake, you’ll soon find out that she can be just as lethal as the real thing!”

“OOOOOH! You again? How dare you do this to our town and make such an unflattering copy of our Labrys!” When we get our hands on you, you’re going to get such a trashing for this!”

Yukiko’s anger was palpable. So much so Yu felt he’d better remind her that their “not fake” Teddie was still running around and not to jump the gun and attack when they came across him.

“Can we quit all this yapping? I got a job to do. Bring on the ring!” The force of the four pillars crashing into the ground to form the ring sent Yukiko to the floor, but her well-padded ass made it so she hardly felt a thing. It took three attempts to get back on her feet, but when she finally got upright she rushed over to the invisible wall and offered Yu some words of encouragement. “You can do it Hubby! Knock this imposter’s block off! Me and our son will cheer you on!” Yu appreciated his wife’s words, but having her meaty breasts and swollen stomach pressed up against the invisible wall like it was a window was going to serve as one hell of a distraction.

The fake shadow spun her axe over her head, the jet thrusters causing all the branches on the nearby tree to whip chaotically before slamming it down, cracking the concrete beneath her, “I’m going to pulverize you…” Picking it back up she pointed toward Yukiko, who still had her cheeks puffed up in anger over the fake Labrys, “…and afterward I’m gonna carve me up some nice, juicy, steaks.
”
Fake Shadow Labrys’s first swing was an upswing which Yu barely dodged, and he had to immediately sidestep to avoid the second, jet-powered downward smash. The ax proved to be very difficult to deal with, the fact the fake Labrys had all the robotic strength of the real one, and the thrusters on the ax amplifying her swings even further, meant that the axe didn’t even need to make contact with him in order to hurt. The wind caused by the thing alone almost knocked him off his feet. A direct hit from that would mean lights out. That wasn’t to say, however, that it was unbeatable.

After it became lodged in a nearby tree after another missed attack, Yu made his move. Yu got right into the fake’s face, leaving a nasty gash on her cheek. If he stayed close to her then she wouldn’t be able to use that huge axe on him. The only thing she could use it for so close up would be to try and block him. He began slashing away at her, forcing her back. Unlike the P-1 Grand Prix where he was fighting his friends and comrades, knowing he was fighting a replica meant that he didn’t have to hold back. One mistake from the shadow and one quick hand motion from Yu, and he was able to lop the shadow’s left hand clean off.

“ASTERIUS!”

“IZANAGI!”

Yu was surprised not only by the fact that the replica could summon a persona, but also that she did it outside the TV world. On instinct he called for his own before the Bull Persona ran him over with Izanagi helping him absorb the blow but sending him flying backwards.

“What’s that?” Yukiko whispered to herself, taking a few seconds to stop her cheerleading. Whenever Yu and the fake’s persona clashed, what looked like little flakes of light were produced and would float up into the sky.

“I gotcha right where I want ya!” Shadow Labrys snarled. After spinning three times, the fake Labrys sent her Axe flying far above Yu’s head. The problem was the axe never left her hand. Her right hand still had a grip on the axe handle, and her hand was still connected to her arm by a long chain. With one yank she pulled the axe down and it fell straight on top of Yu. The force of the impact left a huge crater and kicked up a significant amount of dust. Satisfied that there was nothing left of the silver-haired boy, the Fake Labrys turned to Yukiko to gloat. However, Yukiko’s face didn’t display any of the despair she thought it would. In fact, the girl almost looked smug!

“ZIODYNE!”

Out of the dust cloud, a stream of electricity shot toward the now helpless Shadow. Yu had rolled out of harms way at the last moment. Even if she had retracted her arm in time and tried to use her axe to defend herself, the electrical attack would have just arced through the metal axe and hit her anyway. Yu didn’t know the exact physical make-up of a shadow pretending to be a robot, but he did know robots hated electrical currents and it seemed Shadow Labrys did as well. Once everything settled down, it was clear she was done.

“Ha. Haha…Looks like I lost. Whatever. It don’t really matter to me. I know you’ll get what’s coming to you soon enough.” The Shadow gave Yu one last sadistic smile before melting away. He had won, but oddly enough, now that the match was over Yu felt especially drained of energy and he fell to his knees.

“Yu!” Yukiko shouted has she waddled toward her hubby. He didn’t get a single word out before she pulled him close for a hug and mashed his face into her bountiful cleavage. If this was going to be his reward for winning then Yu was suddenly feeling up to fight the next shadow!

The two turned to the monitor General Teddie was on for some answers, but he was already gone. “Do you think that means the real Labrys is here somewhere?” Yukiko asked as Yu was able to get back to his feet. “If she is, we’ll find her, I promise.” Yukiko grabbed Yu again, but this time she pulled him in for a kiss instead and gushed about how great he was during the fight.

Right when they were ready to get moving again, they both hear a strange sound. They stood around for a minute, and the sound only got louder. Finally, Yu recognized what he was hearing.

“A helicopter?”

Just then, a black helicopter flew over their heads. At first, he didn’t know what to make of it. His phone and the lights still weren’t working, so how could there be a helicopter? And who was in it? Then it hit him. There was only one group he knew who that could possibly have technology that could work in a situation like this.

“The Shadow Operatives? Are their more of them?” Yukiko gave her belly one last rub and sighed before her and Yu started to book it toward where the helicopter was heading, as fast as her maternal form would let her.

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It was just as Elizabeth said, after coming to a crossroads in shopping district, Rise came across not one but two Kanjis in the midst of a screaming match.

“Hey asshole, why don’t you just go ahead and admit you’re the fake?”

“Me?!? Why the hell would I do that when you’re the fake?”

“Okay! Now you’re really starting to piss me off!”

“The feeling’s mutual, pal!”

When it looked like the two Kanji’s were about to rip the other’s head off, Rise stepped in. “Kanji would you stop fooling around? We got to go find Yu senpai and the others!” “Fooling around? What makes you think I’m fooling around?” The first Kanji said as he struggled to avoid being put in a headlock. “Don’t worry, once I get rid of this fake we can go find them together,” the other said. Rise blew a stray hair out of her face. One Kanji was enough to deal with! If Yukiko was here she would probably have decided to attack the both of them, but she couldn’t do that! She had to fish out the fake another way. “Alright, listen up Moronji!” Rise shouted. “Hey! Don’t call me stupid!” The two said in unison. “I’m going to ask you a few questions. Ones only the real Kanji would know.” The two delinquents relaxed. “This should be a piece of cake considering I’m the real one.” The second Kanji started to get mad again, “AS IF! Don’t listen to this guy, I’m the real one!”

“Let’s see. Ummmm….” Her plan was sound in principle, but Rise had trouble thinking of questions to ask. She could tell that the two were getting impatient the longer she took If she didn’t think of something fast then they would go right back to fighting! That’s when the idol saw a small tear on her sleeve from her fight with the strange elevator attendant. “Oh, I got it! Kanji look! My poor little sleeve has a hole in it. Can you fix it?”

The first Kanji quickly inspected the hole and nodded, “Oh yeah. No problem. A simple slip stitch should patch that right up.” The second Kanji shook his head and disagreement. “Are you an idiot? That hole is way to big for that. You need something stronger! You need to use a whip stitch!” The first Kanji took offense, “You’re the idiot, that area is too exposed! Everyone would see it if you did it that way!” The two went back to butting heads before they both turned towards Rise “So, which one is right?”

Rise just shook her head and shrugged, “How am I supposed to know?” She really didn’t think that question through. “What?!? Then why would you ask something like that? And you have the nerve to call us morons?” For the first time, the two Kanji’s agreed on something. Rise took another minute to think up another question. Then, something devious came to her. “Oh Kanji-kun. You and Naoto have been officially dating now for a few days now, right? How many times have you two kissed?”

The first Kanji smiled, “That’s easy, zero. As you said, we have only been dating a few days.” The second Kanji was having a harder time with the question. “I…uhh…well we done it loads of times. I mean its what you do when you’re going out with someone right?” The second Kanji thought back to all the times while hanging out with his friends when Yu and Yukiko locked lips and based his answer on that. “I…uh believe…we must have kissed…thirty times?”

The first Kanji laughed. “Thirty? That’s ridiculous! My answer was right, so that means I’m the real Kanji.” Rise smugly nodded here head, “You may have given the correct answer. But the real Kanji is all about trying to be manly! He would never admit he was too chicken to kiss Naoto even once. Which means…YOU’RE THE FAKE!”

The second Kanji’s face grew even redder, “Hey! I ain’t scared! I’m just waiting for the right moment. And what do you mean “trying” to be manly!” The first Kanji’s face softened, “I guess I made a mistake. Just as well. I spent to much time being roped into his stupidity as is.” The now revealed Fake Kanji was enveloped in a dark energy, when it dissipated, the fake Kanji had the signature look, smile, and effeminate voice that was accustomed to Shadow Kanji. “Now with all that out of the way, we can get to why I’m really here. This is supposed to be a fighting tournament after all. OH! Just think of it. Two muscle-bound warriors locked in battle of pure strength. Is it just me or is it hot in here!”

The real Kanji grimaced. “Again? How many times do I gotta beat the snot out of you? I’m getting sick of this.” Kanji jumped back in shock when Rise stepped forth, “If you’re tired of fighting this guy, then let me do it Kanji!” Kanji tried to protest but Rise assured him she wasn’t the same Rise as before and that she would be alright.

The Shadow Kanji frowned, “Awww. It’s rude to get in the way of a fight between boys you know little missy. But I guess I can’t get too choosy. Sorry darling, I’ll have to deal with you later.” The Shadow licked his lips at the real Kanji before summoning the pillars that formed the ring.

The real Kanji couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He didn’t know what happened, but whatever did, it made Rise a force to be reckoned with. Her persona had the ability to summon these little drone things that could produce barriers, shoot lasers, produce sound attacks and electricity. The Fake Kanji didn’t have the chance to get anywhere near her. Fed up with being thrown around, Shadow Kanji put up the folding chair he was using as a weapon to try and block Rise’s oncoming attacks as he made one final charge.

Right before he got into striking distance, Rise put up another barrier, which the fake Kanji ran into, with his face bouncing off his own chair and knocking himself out.

“That was amazing!” Kanji said as he ran over to Rise. She placed one hand on her hip and used the other to make a “V” sign, V for victory. “It was nothing, wait until the others hear I beat Kanji!”

“Hey wait a minute! It was a fake after all. I think if you actually fought me you’d have a tougher time…” The Shadow Kanji groaned and rubbed to lump on his forehead. “I knew nothing good could come from hanging around little girls. Sorry baby, looks like we will have to postpone our little wrestling match.” As the fake Kanji slowly faded into nothing, the real Kanji scratched his head. “Why does he keep coming back. I thought after all I’ve been through and all that has happened that this thing was settled.” Rise placed a hand o the boy’s back, “When I was fighting him. I did a scan and although it was defiantly a shadow, it didn’t feel like YOUR shadow. It was more like, a mass of lesser shadows, like someone took a bunch of shadows and modeled them into a fake Kanji.” “Really?” Kanji felt relieved but after a moment, he gritted his teeth. “You scanned him? If you could do that then why didn’t you do that before?” Rise laughed, “Oh I did, but seeing you squirm after asking about you and Naoto was just too good to pass up.” Kanji gritted his teeth even harder, but was actually able to calm down pretty quickly. “Speaking of Naoto…have you run into her at all? Can you contact her…Uh! I mean…can you contact anyone else?” Rise shook her head, “No I didn’t, and I can’t zero in on anyone with this fog. Everything is too fuzzy. Are you worried about her? That’s so sweet!”

Kanji put his hands in his pockets and kicked a nearby pebble. “Worried? Nah. Naoto’s a lot smarter than I am. I’m sure she can think her way out of any trouble she gets into. And I’m sure she can take care of herself. But uh…I would like to find her…ya know! To let her know I’m okay is all…”

If they were going to find their friends, it would have to be the old-fashioned way. Rise directed Kanji’s attention to the tower that had appeared in Inaba and both agreed that is where they should be headed. Once they reached the corner convenience store however, the two came across a peculiar sight. Milling outside the store was what looked like a…baseball player?

Rise didn’t have time to scan the new target before Kanji sprung into action and sprinted toward the seemingly lost man. “HEY YOU THERE! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN HERE? ARE YOU BEHIND ALL THIS?”

By the time Rise made it over, Kanji had already grabbed the stranger by his collar. “Okay you bastard, I’m going to make you pay.” The man in the baseball uniform was surprisingly calm and he just closed his eyes and sighed. “Pay? Come on man, look at me. Does it look like I have any money to give you? Just my luck. My team lost, I get stuck out in the boonies, and now I’m getting mugged by some punk.” Kanji instantly dropped the man and threw his hands up, “Mugged!?! Hey man you got the wrong idea!”

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Rise ordered. The man said he was a coach of a little league team and that he was on his way home when he fell asleep and missed his stop. His phone was dead, and he thought he could charge it at the convenience store and that’s when the red fog appeared.

After he wrapped up his story Kanji turned toward Rise, “What do you think? Is he telling the truth?” Rise scratched her chin, “I don’t know. It seems plausible. We are near the station. But I mean, look around! Everyone else has disappeared. The only ones around are us…”

“…and the Shadows.” Kanji finished while cracking his knuckles. “Shadows?” the man repeated. “Is that what Yuka-tan was calling me about…” Kanji started to advance on the man with his fists raised again when suddenly something clicked. “Woah! Wait! Wait! Your saying there are Shadows here? If that’s the case, then it’s possible my friends are in serious trouble!”

Kanji lowered his guard. “Your friends? Don’t tell me you’re with Mitsuru-san’s Shadow Operatives? You don’t really look the type...” Rise said in amazement. “You know about the Shadow Operatives and Mitsuru? Yeah! I’m one of the reserve members. Junpei Iori at your service!”

The air around the three got a little less tense, but Kanji and Rise were still suspicious. “If your one of those shadow operators or whatever that means you have a persona right? Show us then,” Kanji demanded. “You guys know about personas too?” Junpei asked, dumbfounded. The two high-schoolers gave each other a nod and summoned their Personas. “Okay, now it’s your turn.” Junpei stood in awe at the two kids. He had started to reach for the evoker he kept tucked in the back of his pants, but stopped. These kids were able to summon their personas without an evoker, and there certainly was something strange about this place and the red fog enveloping it, so maybe…

“I…Uh…Persona?”

Junpei jumped back when his persona, Trismegistus, appeared in front of him in a puff of fire and ash. It worked! The two students were instantly satisfied. “I guess you weren’t bullshitting. Sorry man, we just had to make sure. I’m Kanji Tatsumi.” Despite feeling a bit weak after fighting Shadow Kanji, Rise seemed to have gotten her pep back. “I’m Rise Kujikawa! I can’t believe it! More Shadow Operatives! That’s so cool!”

Junpei’s eyes went wide. Rise Kujikawa? As in THE Rise Kujikawa? Risette? Idol Sensation? Here? A persona user? And she thinks he’s cool!?! A dumb grin grew on Junpei’s face. Standing up straighter, he scratched his right cheek and started to boast. “Of course. As I said I’m a reserve member. They call me in to clean up when things get too tough. I’m sort of like the field team leader you know.” Junpei’s grin got even wider. He would definitely have to ask her to sign some things for him and maybe take a few pictures once this was all over. His face got more serious after he remembered there were more important things to worry about at the moment. “You guys seem to know more about what’s going on here than me, and you guys seem to know Mitsuru and the others.

I want you guys to tell me everything.” Getting into a baseball huddle, Kanji and Rise told Junpei all about the shadows, the previous tournament, Labrys, the fake Teddie, and the red fog.

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When Yu and Yukiko were able to make it to where the helicopter they were chasing landed they were met with yet another peculiar sight. Another set of those glowing red pillars had formed a ring in the middle of the Junes food court and trapped inside was two Naotos. Not only that, but the real Labrys looked to also be trapped in the ring with the two, too. She didn’t look exactly like the Labrys they remembered however. She now wore a very familiar red hairband and sported a new haircut to match. Outside the ring and talking to one of the Naotos was what looked like a young boy, no older than 13, a dog, and a…Phoenix Ranger cosplayer?

“Please just go! Mitsuru-san and the others are in the tower. I know it’s a lot to ask. But you must try and avoid fighting any shadows you come across,” the real Naoto shouted at the others. Labrys’s mysterious comrades left the area soon after, but not before one of them caught a glimpse of a silver-haired boy and especially round looking woman running back toward the ring.

“Ken! Come on, lets go! We have a job to do!”
“But Yukari-san!” the boy said pointing back at the gravid looking woman. Even Koromaru stopped to look at the girl. The boy realized that his comrade had already taken off, and after looking back one more time, sprinted in the direction he thought he saw her take. “Come on Koromaru.” The dog barked in reply and followed the young boy out.

“Naoto! Labrys! We’re here!” Yu shouted as he stopped just short of running into the ring’s invisible wall. Yukiko wanted to shout as well, but all the running had left her with her lungs feeling like they were on fire and instead placed a hand on the ring wall and doubled over while trying to catch her breath.

While trying to comfort his struggling wife, Yu noticed a nasty gash on Naoto’s back. “Naoto! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine for now,” she answered while panting and gripping her chest. The pain was almost unbearable but with Yukiko here it could be fixed up in a jiffy. The only problem was the shadow standing in front of her.

“And you call these people your friends? Why weren’t they here for you before you got hurt? And where is that boyfriend of yours? And he is so stupid too! Is he even capable of holding a fulfilling or intelligent conversation? Not that you are much better. Do you really think some shut in like you can have a successful relationship? You barely understand your own feelings. How can you expect to understand the feelings of someone else in that way? How laughable.”

Naoto knew the shadow was saying anything it could to goad her into a fight, but that didn’t stop some of it’s words from hitting home. Fighting the shadow was not ideal, but she need to get her wound treated. Defeating the shadow would be her only option to escape.
She tried to step forward, but her advance was halted by a massive axe slamming down in front of her. “Sorry Naoto. You heard Yukari-san. She trusted me to you. I’ll be taking it from here.” The imitation Naoto just threw her head back and laughed. “I don’t really care if it’s a tin can like you, or my other. I just want to get this over with.”

Labrys lived up to her title as an “Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon.” The fake Naoto opened with emptying out all the rounds in the revolver she carried, but to someone like Labrys they did minimal damage. By the time she thought to switch tactics, it was already too late. Being based off the real Naoto meant the shadow wasn’t the quickest or physically the toughest, and it was unable to dodge the titanic upswing of Labrys’s giant axe once she caught her trying to reload.

The shadow was sent flying and slammed violently into the invisible “roof” of the ring. As the shadow fell back down, Labrys helped her reach the ground even quicker. The android swatted the shadow out of the air as she descended with a crushing vertical thruster axe swing to it’s back. The powerful impact as the axe rammed her into the ground completely obliterated the shadow. When the dust cleared the fake Naoto had already disappeared without even getting to say another word.

With the barrier gone, Yukiko summoned her persona and got to work on mending Naoto’s wound while Yu helped Labrys up after she suddenly felt a lot weaker. “Thank you, Yukiko,” Naoto said as the pain slowly faded. “Don’t mention it. But regrettably I can’t fix the cut on your jacket. Luckily we know someone who can stitch that right up don’t we?” Yukiko held back a giggle while Naoto tried to hide her reddening face with her hat.

When Yu brought Labrys over the first thing Yukiko did was throw her arms around the artificial lifeform. “It’s great to see you too.” Labrys said. She found herself again being sucked into the comforting softness of large girl. Embarrassingly, it was a feeling she found herself remembering every once in a while. It was even better than she remembered, but that might just because her sensitive tactile sensors indicated that the girl had a pinch more “Yukiko” to her.

While The two caught up, Yu asked Naoto what happened. She talked about how she was investigating the Shadow Operatives when she got a call from Labrys about how Mitsuru and her team went missing after picking up a strange shadow reading in Inaba. During her investigation she ran into a red headed boy with a cross shaped scar that called himself “Sho Minazuki.”

“Tell me. Do you remember what the ultimate aim of the culprit of the first P-1 Tournament was?”

Yu nodded and said whoever was behind it all was trying to convert their persona’s back into shadows but why was still a mystery. “Correct, whoever was behind Labrys’s kidnapping needed our personas for whatever his plan was. I deduced that his plan probably hasn’t changed, only his method. Now tell me this, did you fight any shadows before you came here? Did you notice anything strange while fighting them?”

Yu told her they ran into an imitation shadow Labrys but he was too busy trying to avoid getting his head taken off to notice anything during the fight. Yukiko, however, spoke up. “Oh! I saw something! I remember as Yu was fighting these little flecks of light would periodically come off his persona.”

“Now that you mention it, I saw the same thing watching Labrys fight just now.” Yu added. “Yes, I believe that during battles with these imitation Shadows, tiny fragments of are personas are “shaved” off and the true mastermind is collecting these fragments to carry out his plan. That’s why Labrys felt so sapped of energy after the battle when she was hardly touched. I’m guessing you felt the same way after your battle?” Yu nodded again. “That’s also probably why these shadows are so eager to fight and don’t even try to hide the fact they are shadows. That hour time limit is dubious as well. It probably served as a way to get us all to rush to fight while blinding us to what is really going on. When I figured all this out is, I was jumped by Minazuki. He was trying to silence me from “knowing too much.” I think because of that we can safely assume that most of what I just said is true.”

“If that’s the case then what should we do now?” Labrys asked. Yu slammed his fist into his palm. “Nothing has changed. We still have to make it to that tower and save the other Shadow Operatives and stop whoever is behind this. We just have to try and avoid running into the other shadows.”

“Sounds like a plan. Dontcha worry about a thing. Even if we do come across any shadows I’ll make sure to help Yu protect you and your son, Yukiko.” Yukiko was happy to see Labrys and relieved to know she was okay, but she said something surprising to the android. “Labrys, I think you should go on ahead and try to link up with the other operatives.”

“Yukiko? What are you saying? You don’t want me around? Dontcha believe in me?” Labrys asked feeling dejected. Yukiko brought the girl into another hug and smiled. “That’s not it at all. I’d love to have you accompany us. But as you may have guessed, I’m not as quick on my feet as I once was. Whoever is behind all this has the other Shadow operatives captured, including that girl Aigis. She’s your sister, right?” Labrys broke contact with Yukiko and looked her in the eye. “She needs your help Labrys and I don’t want to slow you down.” Yukiko lovingly gazed at her maternal swell and gave it a pat, “Family is probably one of the most important things in this world. Don’t you think?”

Labrys stared at the pregnant girl for a few seconds before giving her a small smirk. “I get what you’re sayin. You’re absolutely right. Don’t worry! I’ll save my sister and make whoever did this to her taste the floor!”

Yukiko laughed, “I know you will! Don’t worry about me. I have my hubby to watch over me.” Yukiko caught Yu off guard by throwing herself into him, but he was able to catch himself before they both fell over. Labrys retrieved her axe, “You got a smart woman Mr. Amagi. Your son is in good hands.” Without a word Yu wrapped his arms around as much of Yukiko’s belly as he could and smiled as to say, “I know.”

“We can catch up some more after you teach that Minazuki guy or whoever he’s working for a lesson,” Yukiko said pumping up her fist. Labrys started to make her way to where the others went before she was stopped by Yukiko one more time.

“I forgot to say! I love what you did with your hair!” Labrys blushed and after giving a shy thank you, ran out of the food court.

“You guys didn’t run into Kanji at all did you?” Naoto asked. Yu said they hadn’t see anyone besides her. “It’s so sweet for you to worry about him like that!” Yukiko said while cupping her hands. “That’s not it. I have complete faith in Kanji’s abilities as a fighter. It’s just that if we want to avoid getting into fights, you can see why having someone like Kanji, who is likely to swing first and ask later, running around can be problematic…”

Yu understood what Naoto was getting at, but Yukiko took the wrong thing away from Naoto’s explanation. “It’s nice of you to believe in Kanji’s abilities like that! I feel the same way about Yu. To think that your man is so amazing and that they will always pull through. You have only been dating a few days, but your relationship is starting to sound a lot like ours!”

“Like yours!?! No! No! No! You misunderstand! That’s not what I meant!” Naoto screamed in embarrassment. Yu just chuckled. Looking at Naoto’s face, it didn’t exactly match her words.

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“Okay so, the way I see it. To save your friends, we just gotta make it to that tower while breaking the skulls of every shadow we meet!” Kanji said after everyone was caught up to speed about what was going on. “If your as strong as you say you are, then the three of us should be able wipe the floor with these shadows before the others even have to get involved!”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Junpei said with enthusiasm. “As the oldest and having the most experience in these types of situations, I elect myself to be the leader of our little group.” Junpei felt like he could cry when the two said that him being leader was probably for the best. Having his own team and one of the members being a famous idol? It looked to him like his luck had finally turned!

“Don’t forget about me! I wouldn’t mind bashing up a few more shadows!” Rise said while slamming her fists together. Fighting Shadow Kanji was such a rush, she wanted to REALLY see what her persona’s new abilities could do.

Junpei had another thought. “I almost forgot! We need a name!”

“A name? Why?” Kanji asked, confused.

“Duh. How can we be a proper team if we don’t have name?”

“That sounds like fun!” Rise exclaimed.

Junpei closed his eyes as he thought before settling on a name worthy of his team. “I got it! Henceforth, our squad will be known as the Shadow Sluggers!” Junpei raised his bat into the air. “I still don’t really understand why we need a name, but it is a name I can get behind.” Kanji raised his chair and hit it against the tip of Junpei’s bat. Rise puffed her cheeks out because she didn’t have a weapon like the other members, but her eyes lit up when she saw a nearby music store. Running inside, she soon emerged wielding a mic stand. “Uh…Isn’t that stealing!?!” Kanji said in shock. Rise just waved him off, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to pay them back later! Besides, won’t do the store much good if Shadows destroy the town right?” The third member of the team raised her weapon and hit it against the other two. “I officially declare Operation Shadow Hunt, begun!” With that, the newly christened Shadow Sluggers took off into the night, determined to stir up trouble for the Shadows, and unwittingly the rest of their friends.

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Yosuke’s groups’ time since the commencement of the P-1 Climax had been nothing but a comedy of errors. Yosuke had been able to win the first match of the tournament by knocking out his shadow self, but that is when the trouble really began. For one, the way the Shadow Yosuke disappeared was nothing like the first time. Unlike the defeat of his “true” shadow self in the tv world where he had to accept it and the shadow faded away peacefully, this Shadow Yosuke just laughed as it melted into a black goo. Already weirded out by how the shadow Yosuke disappeared, Chie thought she heard a noise coming from the nearby woods. While it was probably something easily explained like some tree branches scraping together in the wind, all it took was Teddie to bring up the word “ghost” to have the two’s imagination start to run wild. The two took off screaming into the night when they heard a rustling in a nearby bush, leaving Yosuke to try and keep up despite him feeling completely drained of energy after his battle. A few wrong turns and a tumble down an embankment after Teddie tripped and took his two friends with him, and the trio quickly became lost for some time.

Meanwhile, the pink clad reserve member of the Shadow Operatives, Yukari Takeba, was experiencing her own problems. She had become separated from Labrys, Ken, and Koromaru and when she went to the station where Junpei said he was before his phone died, he was no where to be found.
“I’m going to kill that idiot the next time I see him,” she told herself as she made her way toward the tower. Even if Junpei’s battery hadn’t run out of juice it still would have been knocked out like almost everything else electrical had been when the red fog appeared but ragging on his helped to keep her mind off the fact that she was a little freaked out by being all alone in this town. Suddenly, a dark shape exploded out of the nearby tree line causing her to jump and fire an arrow off on reflex.

“WE MADE I-WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Teddie was frozen in fear when after finding the way back to a road, an arrow passed right by his ear and imbedded itself into a tree.

“Teddie you moron! If you would have just listened to me when we passed that weird shaped rock the first time, we would have been out of here fast-“ Yosuke and Chie stopped dead in their tracks when they caught up to Teddie and saw the mysterious woman who was pointing what looked like a bow and arrow at them. Fortunately, Teddie’s appearance was very unique, and Yukari was quick to recognize him as one of the Inaba Persona users mentioned in Mitsuru’s reports. She lowered her weapon and waved the youths over. The three were surprised to learn that there were even more Shadow Operatives than just the ones they’ve met, while Yukari was just as suprised that something like Teddie existed.

“Wow. Mitsuru wasn’t kidding. So, you really are a shadow with a persona huh?” The woman said while yanking on one of Teddie’s ears. The Junes bear just smiled. “Oh I’m much more than that baby. Here I’ll show you!” Luckily for Yukari, Mitsuru’s reports also mentioned Teddie’s habit to flirt. Teddie began to unzip the head of his bear costume to show off his “gorgeous” body but was pushed out of the way by Yosuke, “Can I ask you something? You wouldn’t happen to have run into any of our friends have you?” Yukari said that she had briefly run into their friend Naoto, and that she had left Labrys with her. “Well if she is with Labrys then I’m sure she’ll be fine!” Chie chirped. However, that still left their leader, Yukiko, Kanji, and Rise all unaccounted for. They all still hoped they would run into them once they made it to the tower.

“Hey can I ask you something else? What’s with the outfit?” Yukari rolled her eyes, “I know it’s ridiculous. I was shooting some scenes before coming here and I didn’t have time to change.”

Yosuke was shocked, “Scenes? You mean that isn’t a featherman fan costume? You’re actually in the show?” Now it was Yosuke’s turn to get pushed out of the way. “Oh my god! Do you do your own stunts? Did you get the job because you can use a bow?” As Chie prattled on Yukari just rubbed her forehead. She could already tell these high-schoolers were going to be a handful. Soon the four made for the tower together. Teddie continued to try and cozy up to and flirt with the pink featherman ranger and Chie continued to ask her questions, mainly about Akihiko. “So, you knew him in high school? What was he like? What was his workout routine? Did he have a special diet?” She asked so much about him Yukari wasn’t sure if exercise tips were her only reason for doing so.

Yukari stopped once they reached the base of the tower. Standing in its shadow filled Yukari with a sense of nostalgia and unease. It may not be the real deal, but the tower that had taken root in the town reminded her of Tartarus. A quick scan of the area led her to believe that they were the first of their friends to arrive. But, before they were able to enter, a boy that seemed familiar to her companions emerged from the building.

“YU!” The three yelled in unison. Yosuke gave the silver-haired boy a thumbs up, “I knew you’d be heading here. And before us? As expected of our leader. I wouldn’t be surprised if you already took care of that General Teddie.” However, the smiling face on Chie quickly faded. She ran up to the boy and took a few quick glances behind him. “Wait a minute. Where’s Yukiko? Is she safe? Don’t tell me she got captured to…” the girl asked frantically.

“Don’t worry. She’s fine Chie,” the boy said. “I mean how could she not be with the gift she has received from me?” Before Chie had a chance to process the odd comment, the boy did another thing that caught her off guard, he brought her into an embrace.

“What the!” She shouted before her face was buried in her leader’s chest. She tried to struggle but she couldn’t break free. “I’m more worried about you at the moment. You have such a strong body and yet it’s going completely to waste. But I can help you with that…” In one quick motion, the boy gave Chie’s firm behind an even firmer squeeze.

“WOAH! BACK OFF!” She shouted as she kneed their leader in the crotch and was finally able to break free. The boy doubled over in pain, “Do you realize what you could have done? What kind of idiot would risk damaging their one and only source of happiness in this world?”

When the boy was able to open his eyes again, they had the distinct yellow tint of a shadow. As Chie slowly backed away, he continued. “Your friend was smart enough to realize her purpose in life. A woman isn’t meant to exercise, to have muscles! Women are like cattle. Their only concern when they mature should be growing nice and fat to bear the children of a strong and capable man like yours truly. The Shadow Yu looked at the hand he had used to grope Chie’s behind and grimaced in disgust. “So taunt with no wobble at all. You call that an ass? Now Yukiko’s? That’s an ass a man can get behind! One that stays firmly planted in it’s seat as she asks for seconds, for thirds. She really is the pinnacle of what all women should strive for!”

Yukari’s face was even more repulsed than the shadow’s was at Chie’s toned body. “This is what your leader is like?” she asked.

“Sensei! How could you say such rude things to Chie, and with Yuka-chan here too! I assure you this is not something he picked up from me. I’ll make sure to set him straight!” Yosuke gave Teddie a good wack on the head. He was unamused. “Would you cut that out you moron! What are you trying to pull. You know as well as I do that that isn’t the real Yu!”

Yosuke turned to Yukari, “I swear the real Yu isn’t like that. Well except maybe that last part…but that’s just because he loves his wife so much! I mean I’m sure he doesn’t think that all women would be better off…you know…bigger…I think?” The more Yosuke talked, the less he started to believe his own words.

“Well what do we do now?” Teddie asked.

“You said you were going to set him, straight didn’t you? You fight him!”

“Me!” Teddie said with a hint of fear. “Well he did say all those things about Chie so maybe she should do it! You know, for revenge!”

She shook her head, “Uhhh…that’s okay. I’m good.”

All three were more than reluctant to fight the imposter Yu. He was the only one who’s shadow no one had ever fought before. In fact, as far as they knew he never had one to begin with. They knew how strong their leader was, so now faced with the imitation Yu, no one knew if they had what it took to take him down.
“Are you all stupid or something? Did you remember what I said on our way over here? Your friend Naoto said that we have to avoid fighting the shadows!”

Like a heat seeking missile, the Shadow Yu zeroed in on Yukari to try and goad her into a fight. “Hmmm…You’re a bit older than I would have liked. But you’re not past your prime yet.”
“Excuse me?” Yukari shouted.

“Yeah. You should do fine. I’m sure you can pop out more than a few healthy babies. I mean, just by looking at you I can guess that under that tight uniform of yours that you have grow a tad “soft” around the middle with age.”
Yukari looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel and the three high schoolers began to back away to a safe distance.

Shadow Yu knew he had her roped in and went for the coup de grace. “You’ll probably end up an even heftier heifer than Yukiko has after I’ve bestowed my gift to you. I can tell you’re an absolute porker just waiting to cut loose. Just walk your fat ass over here and I’ll make you squeal.”
The Shadow Yu laughed as Yukari started to sprint toward him after that last line, but his smirk slowly left his face the closer he got. Did he push her too far?

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“Yukiko please! Don’t push yourself so hard!” the young detective said. After the wound Naoto received from Minazuki was all healed up and the situation was explained the trio restarted their own trek to the tower. The large mother was still trying her best not slow everyone down, but the last time she ever had a workout like this was when they stopped Adachi, and she was many pounds lighter. Her appearance continued to grow more and more disheveled, and her light huffing and puffing was replaced by a heavy wheezing. Naoto tried to remind her that the hour time limit given to them was a sham and they could afford to take their time a little, but Yukiko was having none of it. “Our friends…*wheeze*…still need…*wheeze*…us! Don’t mind me…*wheeze*…I’m fine!” Yukiko arched her head back in discomfort and sighed as she continued to try and fan herself cool. She had been going non-stop since they grouped up with Naoto, and like her, Yu thought it was about time Yukiko sat down for another rest.

Yu placed his hands on the shoulders of his waddling wife. Honestly it took more strength to lift the Inn’s large stock pot off the burner while cooking than it was to hold Yukiko in place. She flailed her flabby arms as she tried to continue her advance, but she was just too weak from all her running around to break free.
Swinging her bulk around, she pleaded, “Hubby please…just a lit-.” She was cut off by Yu giving her another water bottle to suck on. It was a little warm, but it was refreshing nonetheless. She let out a satisfied moan as she slowly lowered herself onto another nearby bus bench and chugged the refreshing drink down.

When she was finished, her arm fell limply to her side. “I *MmmURP!* I’m sorry. I know we’re probably not moving as fast as you guys want to. Maybe I should have just stayed at the Inn…”

Her husband and friend were quick to tell her that although she may have grown sluggish due to the pregnancy, she was still a valuable member of the team.

“Chie told me when she ran into you during the P-1 Grand Prix that she had to try her hardest to avoid being burnt to a crisp. You’re still a force to be reckoned with!”

“And you did save me back there. If it weren’t for your healing abilities who knows where I’d be now.”

Yu took a seat on the bench as well and held her tight. “Not to mention just you being here is a load off my mind. Knowing your safe lets me fight to the best of my abilities.” Yu’s tone grew a lot more affectionate as his voice became a whisper. “Plus, it’s nice to have you encouraging me on the sidelines. It’s like I have my own big sexy cheerleader.” Yukiko giggled as Yu nibbled on her ear, but that nibbling soon turned to kissing when Yukiko playfully pushed him away. Naoto fidgeted with her bottom of her jacket. It was like they had forgotten she was here. Yukiko may have been apologizing for being slow, but Naoto was always amazed at just how fast the two lovers got all over each other.

Just when she was about to say something, a dog jumped in-between the three out of nowhere.

*BARK*

The dog’s sudden appearance was even enough to pry the two lover’s lips loose. Yukiko blinked a few times in succession before she started to gush. “A dog? How cute! Are you lost little guy?” The dog was wearing a strange looking collar as well as a hoodie, so it obviously wasn’t a stray. Yukiko beckoned the dog over and began to pet him. “Who’s a good boy! Your fur is so nice! I always wanted a dog, but my parents wouldn’t let me have one because of our Inn’s policy on pets.”

“Where do you think he came from? Why didn’t he disappear like everything else in the town?” Yu asked.

“Because this dog has a persona. You’re looking at a member of the Shadow Operatives.” Yu was about to say something to the effect of how crazy that sounded, but then he remembered that his team has a shadow that not only obtained a persona, but somehow gained a human body.

“Koromaru! I don’t see her anywhere. She must have already made it to the tower.” When the young boy turned to corner to see his canine partner had made some new friends he froze. He gripped his spear a little tighter, but his hand loosened once he noticed it was the detective from earlier and the strange couple he saw running to her aid.

“Uh. Hello. It’s nice to see you made it out of there alright.” The dog barked happily and returned to the side of the young boy. “Your Naoto, right?”

“And you must be Ken.” The bluenette said as she approached. “Wow, you’ve really done your homework. But I guess it’s to expected from a famous detective.” The two got each other up to speed on what was going on. “I see. So Koromaru is having trouble tracking down your comrades. It’s probably because of the fog, believe me it wouldn’t be the first time its happened. The school grounds are just up the road, you are welcome to accompany us until you find your teammates.”

Ken bowed in thanks for the offer, but when he raised his head back up a hand was waiting to meet it. “A robot, a dog, and someone so young. The Shadow Operatives don’t discriminate at all do they,” Yu pondered while scratching his chin and tussling the boy’s hair.

Ken honestly didn’t know how to react to Yu’s comment or his little act. It all came so sudden. Once his brain caught up and processed what was happening however, Ken was quick to act. “Cut it out!” In one swift motion he knocked Yu’s hand away and took a giant step back. In there was one thing he hated it was being treated like a kid. Even when he was in elementary school, Ken had always passed himself off as being more mature. Given the growing up he had to do after the death of his mother, he certainly was mature for his age than any of his peers. Sometimes however, he displayed some of his more juvenile tendencies.

Looking at the three before him, Ken composed himself, stood up straight, and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. What I meant was, could you please not do that? Despite my age I am a member of the Shadow Operatives after all.”

Yu was quick to apologize, he had no idea what came over him but for some reason, it just wouldn't be right to leave that head of hair unruffled. “Oh, I didn't mean to offend. I was just thinking you must be a very reliable and powerful persona user to have been recruited by Mitsuru at such a young age! You have nothing but my respect.”

“Oh…” Was all Ken could say. He never had someone say something to that effect before. Even Labrys needed a little convincing about his abilities when they were first introduced. But there was no doubt in Yu’s mind that he was more than capable fighter and they had literally just met. It actually felt pretty nice for the boy to be recognized! Like an attention-starved child, Ken couldn’t help but gloat a tiny bit, “Well joining was a little more complicated than that. But, I HAVE been a core member of the team since I was ten…” Koromaru couldn’t help but look up at the boy and groan.

Ken’s bragging ceased once he found himself in the shadow of a rather portly woman. “Ken was it? Well, aren't you an exceptional young man! And so polite too! I bet you drive all the girls crazy." Her tone was a bit patronizing for Ken's liking and the way she was beaming at him made him feel like he was a five year old presenting her a drawing he had made in school but he knew she was just trying to be nice.

“I..um…thank you…” It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the woman in front of him was the Yukiko mentioned in Mitsuru’s reports. She stood at the average distance you would for a conversation with someone, but Yukiko’s round heavy beachball of a gut was really pushing into Ken’s personal space, almost like she was subconsciously inviting Ken to give it a feel. Ken felt bad for staring, but in Japan people of Yukiko’s size weren’t exactly a common occurrence, and no pregnant woman he ever saw jiggled the way she did. It was no secret that part of pregnancy for most woman meant some weight gain. But Ken had seen her previous year’s school photo that was included in the report and comparing then to now, even he knew that she had gained way more than the normal amount. He didn’t want to say anything because she seemed like a nice girl, but he just attributed her weight gain to the lack of self-control that had gotten her pregnant in the first place. Although Ken was internally chastising the couple for their reckless behavior in getting pregnant while still in high school and out of wedlock, he also found himself drawn to the woman’s eyes. There was just something about them that made him feel more…relaxed? But he couldn’t put his finger on why.

Misunderstanding the reason for his staring, Yukiko began to rub. "He's really starting to get big and noticeable, but it makes him easy to show off so I don't mind, isn't he adorable?" Ken grimaced inwardly at that, but let a fake smile splay across his features. "Airhead," he thought before chiding himself for his own rudeness, but the thought still lingered in the back of his mind.

Naoto coughed, “The entrance to the tower should be just around the corner. We should get moving.” Yukiko sighed. She apologized in advance the young boy for anything “unsightly” he might see or hear during their time together. Getting to the tower was already an ordeal for the lumbering mother, but the real test for her would be the endless stairs that awaited the group inside the tower. She gave her belly one last pat and whispered, “I know it’s supposed to be the other way around. But it would be a big help if you could lend mama some of your strength for this one.”

The courtyard outside the tower was a complete disaster. Torn up concrete, uprooted flora, what looked like scour marks, even the walls and front door of the tower were cracked and bent to hell.

“What did all this? A shadow?” Yu asked. “A…monster?” Yukiko said while catching her breath from the short waddle over. Ken inspected a nearby gash on are when Koromaru barked and dropped something near his feet. A quick inspection revealed it to be an arrow, and he immediately knew who had done all this. “It was a monster alright…” He said while pulling on his collar. After saying that his comrade was most likely already come through here, the group took their first steps inside the tower.

"It appears to be similar in layout and structure to our last outing," Naoto said when they got a look at the interior. "Yeah but if it's anything like Tartarus things will only get more and more twisted and unearthly as we go up so don't get too comfortable," Ken reminded them all. Despite his warning though, comfortable is exactly what two of their members seemed to get. "Hmm if that's the case maybe this other General Teddie will turn out to be another one of Aigis' siblings?" The deadpan way in which he said it made it difficult for Ken to tell if he was joking or not but a giggle from his wife and a sigh from Naoto confirmed it was his attempt to be funny. "I somehow doubt we'll be quite so lucky a second time senpai."

When they got to the stairs, Ken held back a roll of his eyes when he saw Yu give a bow while offering his hand to the pregnant girl, "Oh hubby, if you insist." And they walked slowly and gently up every step like they were heading to a fancy party. With all of Yukiko's laughing and giggling, it was clear she wasn't taking this seriously at all, and her husband was completely prepared to indulge her. "Watch out for the last step, it's a doozy," Yu called out behind him, helping his wife lift herself over it. "What a gentleman," she cooed and to Ken's utter horror the girl actually kissed him! They were on a mission and she just...kissed him on the cheek! "This isn't a date you know," he mumbled to himself, Koromaru whining when he sensed his friend was bothered. Things were serious, but Ken was probably pushing himself to be a bit too serious...

"S-so how is school going? *puff* Are you in any clubs?" Yukiko asked him. Her breathing was coming in a tad heavier despite only ascending a single flight of stairs. "Yukiko-san, with all due respect, I don't see how that's related to the task at hand."

"Well if we're going to be working together, I think maybe you'd be more comfortable if we got to know each other. You seem kind of stiff," Ken blanched at that but made sure to reply cordially. "I'd rather we just focus right now," Yukiko seemed a little hurt for a second but she smiled back at him, causing that familiar relaxed feeling to crawl back into his heart. "Well, things will be over quickly pretty quickly so I hope we get the chance to talk before everything's finished." She and her husband shared another kiss at that and after returning to normal, Ken looked around the room to avoid the sight, his eyes resting on Naoto. Surprisingly she didn't look bothered at all, in fact, she looked even more at ease than he did despite being gravely injured less than an hour ago.

"At least she's taking this seriously," he groused. "If I didn't know any better, I would say she's the leader."
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“ALRIGHT! Another victory for the Shadow Sluggers! We’re red hot!” Junpei tried to stand after he helped his team deliver another crushing defeat to the enemy shadows, but his legs felt like wet noodles after his battle and he fell right on his butt. “We’re unstoppable! I never knew battling on the frontlines could be so much fun!” Rise was all smiles. She had taken to fighting like a duck to water. She was so used to staying behind to provide support to her team, the thrill of battle had completely overtaken her. Kanji stood up from his chair. Having a weapon that doubled as a seat for when he was spectating had it’s advantages, but as the night went on his folding chair got more beaten, bent and uncomfortable. “I don’t remember Shadow Teddie’s fur being so flammable the last time we fought him. Either he has been using some new type of shampoo or you’re really strong.”

From his seated position, Junpei pointed to the sky, “You’re damn right your leader is strong. I’M THE MAN!” Finding the energy to stand again, Junpei brushed the dirt off his uniform. “It’s a shame about that Teddie guy though. He would have made a great mascot for my baseball team. Hey! You think you can talk to the real one for me?”

“I don’t think that would be the best idea…” Rise saw visions of Teddie traveling around with Junpei’s baseball team, ogling and harassing any cute girls that caught his eye in the stands. She didn’t think it was the right time for Teddie unleashed on the rest of the world outside Inaba just yet.

“Any of you notice how after we all teamed up it seems like we are running into Shadows a lot more frequently? I mean, Teddie appeared almost immediately after you fought Chie…”

Rise rubbed her side, “I knew Chie was tough, but that kick really hurt! I think I have a bruise now!” Rise may have had a little too much fun in her last battle.

She had gotten careless which allowed the Shadow version of Chie to weave her way through her defenses and land a bone shattering roundhouse kick to her flank. That getting hit part was the one thing Rise didn’t enjoy about combat. Summoning two barriers and smashing the Shadow Chie between them was very cathartic after suffering that blow.

Junpei gave Kanji a pat on the back, “They’re probably sending more Shadows our way to slow us down because their scared about how powerful we are. Just more proof we’re winning!”

“Yeah! We’ll continue to smash any shadow in our way!” Rise put on a serious face and threw a few quick jabs. Kanji was a little scared of the idol’s new bloodlust, but also appreciated her enthusiasm. “Well okay then. We’re almost to the tower. Let’s march in there and kick some ass!”

From the direction they came from, to reach the tower required the trio to cut through the school’s soccer field. When they were about halfway through, suddenly the field lighting came on, illuminating the field even though nothing electrical should have been working. It was soon clear this was no ordinary lighting when the mysterious red fog started to dissipate under the bright lights. When the fog cleared completely, Rise, Junpei, and Kanji were met by a very familiar looking red head standing in the middle of the field and holding a microphone.

Rise groaned. “Noooooo not yooooouuuuuu!” Junpei didn’t share Rise’s displeasure. “Two Rises!?!”

The Imposter Rise spoke into her microphone. “Hello boys! Did you come all this way to see little old me? I’ll tell you what! You two and that slut come over here and I’ll give you all a private show!” Kanji elbowed Rise in the ribs and smirked, “Now you know how I felt earlier. Come on, we’ll just grind her into dust like the rest of them.”

Rise continued to pout as she and her two teammates marched over to her shadow. “Awwww What’s the matter? Not happy to see me? Your scraggly looking hobo friend seems happy enough!”

Junpei’s dumb smiled dwindled, “You mean me!?! I’m a little dirty, so what! Like I said before, I was out in the hot sun all day coaching baseball.”

Rise stepped forward. “Okay, so we’re here. You looking for a fight as well?” The Shadow Rise smirked. That was exactly why she was here, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun first. “Well the fact that I’m here must me you have some more repressed feelings you aren’t dealing with in the right way.”

Scanning all the shadows they had come across, Rise had it on good authority that these Shadows they were fighting were not their true shadows, but some artificially created fake. However, she decided to indulge her fake a little. “Oh yeah? And what feelings would that be?”

“Why, your feelings about Yu and his blushing bride to be of course! That Yukiko sure is a lucky woman!”

Rise’s eyes widened and she turned her head to the side, “I don’t have any idea what your talking about.”

Junpei leaned over and whispered to Kanji, “Psst. Hey. Who’s Yu?”

“Senpai? He’s like our leader. Best guy I know.”

“Oh” Junpei said, after a moment he whispered again, “Who is this Yukiko girl then?”

“A member of our investigation team and Yu’s fiancé. Their having a kid together.”

“Oh.” Junpei repeated. After processing what he had heard, Junpei shook his head and dropped any attempts at being quiet. “Wait! So, your saying this Yu and Yukiko girl are getting married? And having a kid? And they are still in high school!?!”

“Yeah, is that a problem?”

Junpei was just left scratching his head in silence. Are people really getting married and having children this early now? Has he been dragging his feet?

The shadow tapped the real Risette on the nose. “I think you do. It just eats you up inside to see Yukiko so happy and with the man of your dreams. If only that were you! It’s all you ever think about when their around.”

Rise bit her lower lip. “It’s true. Maybe occasionally when I see those two together I wonder if things could have been different. But it isn’t some obsession like you implying. Yukiko is my friend and I wish her and her baby nothing but the best!”

The imposter Rise turned around, and walking like she was on a catwalk, took a few steps down the field. “Yu really missed out though, huh? You would have been a much better choice.” Rise tilted her head. She wasn’t sure what her shadow was trying to say.

“Who would have thought that Yu liked his women so…thick. I mean the fact he is so attracted to that tub of lard proves it, doesn’t it?”

Rise’s attention was drawn to the shadows legs by a strange tearing sound. When she looked down she felt like her eyes would pop out of her head like in those American cartoons. The noise had come from the Shadow Rise’s stockings, her legs were getting bigger! The gap between the shadow’s thighs was getting smaller by the second. Slowly looking up further, Rise gaze was met with a slowly expanding bubble butt. Watching a little bit of ass flesh beginning to peek out from under the hem of her skirt, the real Rise had to feel her own ass just to make sure it wasn’t really that huge. As the Shadow grew, her jacket began to ride up, causing a nice pair of pale love handles to bulge out the bottom. As the growth slowed to a halt, the seams under her arms started to split from her chunkier arms.

The Shadow Rise slowly turned around, revealing her jacket struggling to contain breasts a few cup sizes larger than the real Rise’s and a big ol’ potbelly that looked like she was a party girl that had attended one too many keggers.

“If he would have just let you know what his preferences were, we both know you would have gone to Aiya’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to obtain the body he so desires.”

“I, buuuh. I ummm…uhhh….” Rise couldn’t even form words. It was one thing to see a perfect image of yourself outside a mirror. It was another thing to then watch yourself put on 50 or more in less than thirty seconds. Was this some sore of shapeshifting ability? The shadows they fought before in the TV world changed shape after being rejected so it was possible. The boys could believe what they were seeing either. It was like a car crash. They couldn’t pry their eyes away from the fake Rise Kujikawa turning into Rise “Kuji-cow-wa.”

“He wouldn’t have been able to keep his hands off your fat ass.” The Shadow gave one of her bloated cheeks a hard smack. “And with all this cushion needed to be pushed, it would have only been a matter of time before you would have gotten pregnant as well, probably even earlier than that Inn skank. You wouldn’t have cared though right? You always wanted a big family. You would have dropped out of the idol business and into the life of a pampered breeder wife in a heartbeat.”

The shadow’s sinister smile took on a more cherubic appearance as it began to plump up with more fat. Flapping her hands, the shadow threw her head back and moaned.
“Ooooooooohhhhhhhh…” This time the growth took on a different shape. The Shadow’s jiggly paunch billowed out, like she had swallowed a deflated beachball and it was slowly being inflated inside her. No longer a wobbling gut, the Shadow’s middle took on a distinctly pregnant shape, a nice taunt orb, albeit with a layer of blubber covering it. Her hips flared out even farther, wide enough to comfortably birth a child, and her thighs thickened even more to support herself.

Although the Shadow Rise had the look of the real Rise, she had grown a figure that was the perfect match of her young heiress friend.
“You would have ended up exactly like your friend if circumstances were switched. You would have welcomed it. Pregnancy is amazing isn’t it? Yukiko has the right idea. Who cares about a “few” extra pounds when you get to feel and experience this!” The shadow lazily rubbed her belly, “So big and round. Mmmm…this feels nice. No wonder she can’t keep her hands off hers either.”

Kanji stuck a finger in his ear just to make sure he was hearing this shadow correctly. Even if these were fake Shadows like Rise had said, judging by Rise’s reaction the Shadow’s words did have some truth to them. First Yukiko gets completely taken up into having her baby and being a mother, and now he is being told Rise would have abandoned her successful idol career and swollen up with child as well if given the chance. “Is this something all girls want…” he wondered.

Junpei overheard his contemplation. “No way man! I’ve know plenty of girls and none of them would ever want to end up like that…would they?” He actually wasn’t as sure as he thought. Junpei’s mind started to wander to dangerous places. First he imagined Mitsuru with a few hundred pounds added to her frame, sitting in some sort of throne he thought her mansion would be equipped with for some reason and with a number of little red headed kids, all asking if he has been studying like he was still in high school and generally just making him feel stupid. Then his imagination shifted to an equally massive Yukari taking up half a couch and pigging out on some sweets while her own brood ran circles around him, calling him “Stupei.” Before he had the chance to fully imagine another girl who was very close to his heart he was shaken back to reality by Kanji who thought he looked like he was having a nightmare.

Rise rubbed her washboard stomach nervously. “I mean I suppose I’d let myself plump up a bit for the baby. But, I don’t think I’d get that big…”

The Shadow just laughed, “Of course not! We both know you would get much, much, bigger. That’s why Yu missed out, if he wanted an absolute cow for wife he should have came to you. If you and Yukiko stood next to each other, you’d make her look like you do now by comparison. Again, the shadow began blowing up.

The shadow grabbed her mic stand and started to grind against it like a pole, but her steadily increasing bulk made bending over impossible. “Oh poo. I’m just not made for that anymore. But I promised you a show, didn’t I?” The shadow slowly raised her flabby bingo wings over her head as best she could, “I have this sexy gut now, might as well use it.”

The shadow began to roll and shake her hips, preforming an awkward belly dance that reminded Rise of a similar one she learned to do for a commercial she did. Not only did each hip movement send a quivering wave that permeated across the shadow’s blubbery body, but each side thrust caused her body to suddenly swell up with five to ten pounds of extra pudge. The combination of this made whatever was still clinging to her body to finally gave up. Buttons were sent flying as the shadow’s outfit fell into a pile beneath her. Under her clothes she was wearing the familiar swimsuit the real shadow Rise had worn. Free from the confines of her tight uniform, shadow Rise’s breasts plopped nosily onto her creamy white stomach. Her ballooning middle continued to sag downward, covering her crotch as it made her way down to her knees. She turned around to give the three another view of her exploding ass. Her cheeks quaked and slapped together as they were packed with more butter and fat and her swimsuit bottom slowly disappeared into the confines of her crack until it was impossible to tell if she was wearing any bottoms at all.

Once she had reached double Yukiko’s current size and then some, the shadow stopped. Her whole body glistened with sweat from all that exertion.

“BUUUUOOOOORRRRRRRPPPPPP!”

The three Shadow Sluggers reeled back from the loud burp. “OH GOD! I needed that.” She ran her sausage fingers through her hair and grabbed hold of her red locks. “The term “pigtails” have never applied so much,” Shadow Rise said in an almost boasting tone. The shadow lifted the pudding pumped orb in front of her and let it fall, the weight crashing down making her lose her balance. “URP! Yu would have a heart attack if he knew he could have had all this. Built for nothing but loving and baby making. I could do without the wedgie though.” The shadow’s attention turned to her massive mammaries that were winning the battle against her bikini top. “Of course, what’s a good is a cow without her udders.” She gave another hips thrust that caused her tits to swell with what the real Rise could only hope wasn’t what she thought it was. “It’s so difficult to move around, but I got a few more of those in me. Just enough to free these girls and show you just how much a happy, milky, dairy cow “we” could be.”

“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!” Rise shouted! This had gone on for too long. She had to suffer the humiliation of the Shadow turning her form into a bloated mockery of itself, she was not going to let the shadow expose herself to.

“I agree, we have already wasted too much time with you. It’s my turn next so I got this one,” Kanji said as he brushed past the embarrassed girl. Before Rise could stop Kanji, the red pillars fell from the sky to form the ring and separated the two. “Kanji you moron!” Rise shouted. “She’s a long-range fighter. You saw how easily I beat your shadow, remember!”
Kanji got a little annoyed, “I remember! And hey, I told you that was just a shadow. I’m way tougher than that guy! Besides, I have a plan.”

Kanji cracked his knuckles, “Hey! Fat ass! I hope you can lose all that as fast as you put it on, or else this is not going to be pleasant for you.”

As it turns out, just like in real life, getting fat was a lot easier than getting less so. Shadow Rise had only managed to deflate herself back to Yukiko’s size before a chair shot to the face sent her packing for good. Just as Kanji said he did have a plan. Using her Persona’s own laser spitting drone things against her, he was able to cut a path right through her barriers and destroy her once he was up close. Afterwards, the three agreed to never speak of what they had just witnessed. Junpei was convinced he’d never be able to look at a Rise album the same way again. The three left the field, and finally the last group successfully entered the tower.

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Although the state of the courtyard outside implied at the very least one of the Shadow Operatives had passed through, there was no signs of anyone inside. Yu and Yukiko’s high school have become like a maze. Winding hallways filled with numerous classrooms impede the groups progress. Not only was finding the stairs to the next floor a chore, but every room had to be checked in case they either ran into any other members of their teammates or they came across any of the captured Shadow Operative members. As they ascended the tower, Naoto started to grow anxious. After the defeat of her own Shadow, they had failed to run into any of the other shadows. That was good for them since they were trying to avoid conflict, but that also could mean that their friends had already come through and defeated them all. That would not be so good.

While Naoto worried about how far along the plan of whoever was behind the P1-Grand Prix and P-1 Climax had come, the boys were concerned with the mother in their midst and her battle with what was increasingly becoming her mortal enemy, stairs. “You know, we checked all the rooms coming up here and we didn’t run into any shadows, maybe it would be best if you just get some rest and we will go on ahead,” Ken suggested. “No…I can’t…stop now…how many more…floors can…their be?” It was impossible to tell just how many floors the tower had, but from Naoto’s estimation, they still had a long ways to go.

“Shouldn’t you do something?” Ken whispered to Yu. The silver-hair boy just chuckled and assured the young Ken that there was no way he would be able to talk Yukiko out of it and that she knew what she was doing. Ken didn’t say it out loud because Yukiko had been nothing but cordial, but he was becoming a tad frustrated with the situation. Surely bringing a pregnant high-schooler into such a dangerous situation was an awful idea.

As far as Ken saw it, she was nothing more than a liability. He appreciated her tenacity, but the fact still stood that if she wasn’t around it would allow them to move much faster than they were.

The fact these two would drag their unborn baby into the whole mess made Ken start to think just how good of parents the two would be. In the short time he knew him, Yu came across as a bit of a goof. Even with everything that was happening he didn’t seem concerned at all, he even told a few jokes during their ascent. If he can't take this seriously, how could he for a baby? He also heard about how some high school girls could be, always wanting to look fashionable and obsessed with all things cute. The way Yukiko talked about her baby, She does know that a baby is its own person with needs and not some accessory to show off? Raising a child was certainly hard work, not to mention costly, even for adults. Plus, they would have to deal with all the judgmental looks from others…

“Ken, what are you doing.” He thought to himself. Being judgmental was exactly what he was doing, and he really didn’t have the authority to do so. These people have been nothing but polite to him and here he was, thinking bad about them behind their backs. He had only known them for less than an hour. At the end of the day, he didn’t mean Yukiko any harm, and maybe he was being a little unfair, he just had a high standard for what a mother should be. He just need to keep his mind on the task at hand and have some patience. That’s what a mature person would do.

“GRRRRrrrrrrrrrRrrrroooooooo”

Yu turned to his panting wife. Recently, a growling stomach could only mean her, and the baby were in dire need to be fed. This time, however, the sound didn’t come from her. Instead, the source of the sound came from a certain middle-schooler that had just joined their group.

The three investigation team members all turned to face the boy who quickly looked off to the side to try to make it seem like he didn’t notice his stomach’s outburst. “Is something wrong Ken?” Asked Yukiko. Ken Scratched his cheek in embarrassment, “Oh it’s nothing. Just some hunger pangs. Everything just happened so fast after I was picked up after school and brought here, I haven’t really had time to eat much since lunch time besides a few snacks.” Koromaru looked at the floor and whimpered. It looked like he missed out on dinner as well.

“Since lunch time? That was more than twelve hours ago. That isn’t good. “Yu told the boy. Ken attempted to be dismissive, “It’s nothing really. It’s not like it will kill me to be hungry for a while. I hardly even notice it.” Yu wouldn’t drop it however, “It really wasn’t a smart thing to do. You need all the energy you can get for an operation like this. I don’t think Yukiko would mind if you have some of this lunchbox we brought along.” If Ken didn’t know any better, it sound like he was getting scolded, but not in the way Yukari used to scold Junpei for acting like an idiot. This scolding was less harsh and showed hints of concern.

Before Ken had a chance to turn down the offer, he found himself being pushed into one of the school chairs that littered the room they were in. Once he was seated, a lunchbox was dropped right into his lap. Yukiko had been way ahead of Yu. She had already retrieved the lunchboxes before Yu had even suggested it. Bending down as best she could, Yukiko placed a hand on Ken’s shoulder. “You really should eat something. You’re still a growing boy after all.” Ken shifted awkwardly in his seat. “I couldn’t. This is for you isn’t it? Don’t you need to eat a lot for the baby…”

Yukiko raised her hand before he could finish. Slowly standing back up she placed both hands back on her belly and gave it one large rub.

“I had a very nice and filling dinner before coming here. And I’ve built up more than enough “stores” to last a while. My hubby helped make sure of that! Besides. I know once this is over he will more than make it up to me.” Yukiko turned around a blew Yu a kiss, causing Naoto, who was standing right next to him, to shake her head in embarrassment. Yu had in fact been going over in his head possible dishes to serve his wife once this was all taken care of. After seeing all the effort she had put in so far she deserved it. “Now I’m not going to let you up from that spot until you’ve eaten!”

Ken knew he wouldn’t be able to refuse. Not only did he feel almost like a misbehaving child if he did, but he found himself being drawn into the warm, gentle smile Yukiko was giving him and for some reason, he increasingly wanted to please her.

*BARK!*

Yukiko gave Koromaru a pat on the head and placed a second lunchbox in front of him. “Don’t think for a second I forgot about you!” Koromaru wagged his tail and did a quick turn, but before digging in, he sat down and started at Ken. Ken laughed at his canine companion, and as he opened his lunch box, told him to dig in.

The burst of flavor that Ken experienced when he took his first bite was indescribable and he quickly went back for another. Fuuka used to joke that Koromaru had better “table” manners than Junpei did, but once faced with something so delicious, he couldn’t help but stick his nose into it and scarf it down like a true dog. “Oh my. You poor things were even hungrier than I thought!” Yukiko said when stroking Koromaru’s back as he ate.

“This is amazing! Did you make this?” Ken asked in-between bites. Yu raised his hand slightly, “It was me. I’m glad you like it”

“Honestly, you didn’t take me for a chef. Did you go to a school for it?” Yu nodded, “I took classes when I was younger. But since then I’ve been mostly self-taught.”

Yukiko jumped up from petting Koromaru. “He was already a good cook before coming to Inaba, but his food just getting better every day. He gets lots and lots of practice in our kitchen.” Naoto, who had been watching the hallway outside in case anything came through, couldn’t help but crack a smile. If Yukiko’s size didn’t make apparent where all that practice ended up, the slight bounce of her globular rear as she stood up did.

Yu rubbed the back of his neck, “I don’t know, I just found that cooking when I’m stressed or worried helps me calm down.” Yukiko gave her man a kiss on the cheek, she wanted to do more, but held herself back on account of the young boy with them. “Just having you around keeps me and the baby calm. Everyone else agrees. You always know how to lighten the mood. I don’t know how half our battles would have gone without you there. Naoto gave an embarrassed tip of the hat, confirming what Yukiko said was true. Ken shrunk in his chair. How could he have been so stupid. All those jokes and his carefree attitude did serve a purpose. It made everyone think that everything was under control and helped push out any doubts in his teammates heads. “I have a lot more to learn,” Ken whispered to himself.

Koromaru let out bark of contentment once he was finished. Ken had finished as well, but he didn’t manage to eat all of what was given to him. He couldn’t believe one persona couldn’t eat the whole lunch box by themselves, let alone two, so Ken assumed that Yu had foreseen something like this happening and planned accordingly by packing enough food for multiple people.

Returning the boxes, Ken thanked the Investigation team leader for the meal. “Thank you. That certainly was a treat.”

*BARK! BARK!*

“And Koromaru agrees, I don’t think he has had a meal that superb since…” Ken grew silent and his smile, sad, when an image of an unkept man in a beanie flashed through his head. Koromaru let out a sad whimper and laid down on the ground, like he knew what Ken was thinking of. Yu decided not to pry and again, thanked the two for their praise.

Suddenly, a familiar voice emitted from the far corner of the room. “Never forget, It’s your fault.” Everyone in the roomed turned to see a second Ken step out of the Shadows. Yu and Yukiko could tell that what the shadow had said had shaken the boy. Before the shadow said another word, Naoto reminded them of their mission. “Don’t listen to him. Remember! We have to avoid fighting shadows at all costs. Let’s just leave.”

The Shadow Ken was dumbfounded as the five all started to leave the room, and his attempts to goad them into a fight by reminding them of the hour time limit were ignored. Just when it seemed that the team would escape without conflict, the Shadow hit back hard. “It must be nice to have been feed like that, and after so long! Maybe if you ask her nicely, she can be your new mommy!” Ken stopped dead in his tracks from the Shadow’s words. “Hopefully this one’s story doesn’t end so tragically. But people do seem to die when around you. Maybe if “she” didn’t have to look after such a foolish little boy “she” would still be around.”

Naoto tried to grab Ken before he took off, but he had absolutely snapped. “WHAT DO YOU KNOW? YOU BASTARD!” He screamed as he charged his shadow self. Once he reached a certain distance, red pillars fell from the ceiling, forming a ring, and Ken realized his mistake. After a long absence, General Teddie appeared on a nearby TV screen, “Poor Kenny. Didn’t mama ever teach you not to throw tantrums? Look at where that has gotten you! Right smack dab in the ring of the next match for the P-1 Climax!”

The Shadow Ken continued to taunt, “To be tricked so easily. So immature. Don’t worry, you’ll be seeing mommy real soon!” Ken noticed a bright energy forming at his feet. Thinking quickly, he dodged rolled out of harms way before the Hamaon spell engulfed him in it’s searing light. Before he had a chance to counter attack, a small figure burst from behind his shadow self and clamped on his arm.

“ARGH!” Ken yelped in pain as the figure sunk it’s teeth into his arm and shook violently. “Koromaru!” he gasped in surprise. Although the growling shape looked like Koromaru, the yellow eyes told him it was nothing but another imitation.

“I said the P-1 Climax was a one on one battle, but silly me I guess I forgot to mention that only applies to human combatants!” General Teddie cackled. Ken felt like he was about to get his arm ripped off before the fake Koromaru was hit by a heavy fireball and was forced to retreat. The real Koromaru up besides his friend ready to fight. His arm still in pain, Ken apologized, “I’m sorry boy, I screwed up big time. Looks like we got no other option but to fight.”

The battle was a long one. Neither side could get ahead. Ken would try to use his own hamaon spell only for Shadow Kormaro to counter with a mudoon, Shadow Ken would try and get in close for a physical attack only for the real Koromaru to use his lightning speed to keep him at bay. This continued until a Makarakarn that neither Ken or Koromaru saw cast, sent another fire spell back at it’s owner, slamming Koromaru into the ring wall.

“Koromaru!” Ken shouted. Gripping his spear, he charged his shadow self in a rage. The shadow Ken just laughed as the shadow canine sprinted out to intercept. But, as Shadow Koromaru leaped into the air to target the boy’s throat, Ken jammed his spear into the ground.

Like a pole vaulter, he was able to leap over the attacking dog, and come back down on top of his shocked shadow, skewering him. A quick Ziodyne to the sole remaining shadow ended the fight. Despite his own injuries, Ken ran over to check on Koromaru who was limping heavily. “Koromaru! Don’t move! Are you okay? This is all my fault.”

The two were then covered in a bright white light, and when is disappeared they found that not only were all their wounds were healed but that they felt even better than before. Ken looked behind him to see Yukiko with her hand raised and sweating from exertion. Whatever healing spell she did took a lot of energy.

Ken apologize for his actions but found his reprimanding surprisingly light. Ken thought the team deserved so answers for why he did what he did and told them all of that faithful day when his mother was killed. Once he finished his story, Yu and Naoto offered their condolences, but Yukiko was a little more hands on. Ken was brought into the hardest hug of his life by the soft mother. “That’s awful! You poor thing. I can’t even imagine how hard it’s been for you.” Ken felt his chest tighten. He hardly knew this girl, and yet the feeling he was getting felt very familiar, a feeling from his childhood he hadn’t felt in a while. He felt like he could just fall asleep like this.

When the two separated, Ken quickly wiped one of his eyes and said they should probably get moving. As they left the room, Ken gazed at his arm that had looked like raw hamburger meat moments before as well as Koromaru.

“Mrs. Amagi,” Ken said shyly. Yukiko slowly turned back to the boy. “Yes?”

“I just wanted to say, we are all really lucky to have you around…”

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“Didn’t you say Naoto told you not to fight the shadows?” Yosuke asked as they ascended the next set of stairs. “Would you just be quiet? You know, you’d sound a lot better if you didn’t whine so much,” was all he got back in response from the pink phoenix ranger. “Besides, he was blocking the front door. A fight was unavoidable!” It sounded like she was trying to convince herself with that last comment. “You were amazing! I thought you were going to rip that shadow’s arm off after it tried to grope your butt like it did mine!” Chie raved. Yukari glowered just thinking about it. She didn’t say anything, but she could see why her teammates were hesitant to attack the shadow. He was a lot tougher than he looked. Even with her rage backing her up, the shadow Yu got a few good hits in, and there were even times during the battle she thought it was all over. If the shadow wasn’t a complete pervert that took time out of the fight to try and get inside her pants, things could have turned out a lot different. If the real deal was just as strong, she could see why he was their leader.

Even though Yukari had some experience navigating the maze like tower through her dealings with Tartarus, the trek through the tower was long and arduous. Classroom after classroom all blended together, not to mention the thousands of stairs that they felt like they had climbed already. “I’m starting to think we are the first ones here,” Yosuke claimed as they traversed the halls on what he estimated to be the 30th floor. “What makes you say that?” Chie asked. She was taking all the running around and stair climbing in stride and was always in front of the group. To her it was almost like a workout, and she couldn’t let up one bit if her master was somewhere in the building, what would he think if he saw her slacking?

“Well, in addition to our shadow Yu outside, all the doors we have come across have been shut, nothing looks like it’s been broken, which kind of rules out Kanji, and well…” Yosuke paused for a moment before for continuing, “If Yu had come through here that would mean Yukiko has as well and do you really think we wouldn’t have caught up to them by now?” Chie wanted to berate Yosuke and defend her best friend, but even she had to admit that, in her state, Yukiko wouldn’t be able to keep a lead on them all even with a head start. That girl hadn’t even had a proper run in months.

Speaking of slow moving members, Teddie continued to lag behind. His stubby little legs were doing him no favors. Undeterred by the treatment of Shadow Yu, he had already tried to look up the skirt on Yukari’s costume for some motivation, but alas, it was mainly for show. “I don’t think I can go on you guys. Yuka-chan will have to carry me. Don’t worry. I may be full of love but I’m surprisingly light!” Yukari scoffed at the idea, “I guess we will just have to leave you behind. You’re actually a shadow, correct? If you run into anymore maybe you can convince THEM to carry you.” Teddie whined. This Yukari girl was a real handful. She was even scarier than Yukiko used to be when he did something she didn’t like, and a lot less forgiving. If she was a little less gorgeous, then he might not even bother with her…as much, maybe!

The group stopped a peculiar set of double doors on the next floor. “The gym? All the way up here?” Yosuke exclaimed. Several loud thumping noises echoed from behind the door. Yukari motioned everyone to stand back, and nocking an arrow, she slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside.

Most of the gym was cast in darkness but situated in the center of the large room, illuminated like under a spotlight, was a cross. Attached to the cross was a young, shirtless man with silver hair. “Akihiko!” Yukari shouted.

Hearing her, Chie forced open the other door. “MASTER!” she shouted, even louder. The two women ran onto the hardwood court leaving the two boys to catch up. “Is he alright?” Chie asked with her hands to her mouth. Yukari quickly inspected the man, he was in rough shape, but alive. “He’s just knocked out. Here, help me get him down!”

Chie got to work on undoing the bindings on Akihiko’s legs while Yukari did his arms. Glancing upward, Chie saw Teddie and Yosuke looking off in the distance. “Hey you idiots! We could use some help here!” Yosuke ignored the insult, and instead pointed toward, a corner of the gym. “Uhhh…guys…”

Chie and Yukari slowly stopped their attempts to free their comrade when they noticed that thumping noise they heard just moments before entering. Seeing Akihiko bound up like he was made them forget all about it, and each thump was getting faster!

In the corner, the four could just make out a large, muscular figure. It turned out the noises they heard was the sounds of fists hitting an equally large punch bag. The four had never seen anything like it. The blows the figure delivered were so fast, they were almost to quick to track. Not only that, but they all could swear the power behind the punches could be felt from where they were standing. After a few more flurries of punches, the figure reeled back and delivered a coup de grace, knocking the bag off it’s stand and smacking it against the wall. It’s target destroyed, the figure turned to it’s new targets, the four persona users. The figure rolled it’s neck, making a cracking sound, as it stepped out of the darkness. By the way the figure moved and attacked, Chie wasn’t surprised in the slightest when the figure revealed itself to be the Shadow version of her master.

“How disappointing, and here I thought I would be getting an actual fight!”

The group slowly took a step back as the Shadow advanced on them. His aura alone made the air seem thicker and you could almost taste his lust for a fight. “I don’t expect much from two women or a scrawny kid, but that stuffed animal over their looks like it might be able to take a few hits.” Shadow Ahikio pounded his fist at the bear, “It almost looks like one gigantic speed bag.”

“Uhhhh...guys! He is blocking the door. How are we going to get out of here!” Teddie said in a panic. Personally, Yukari thought that Teddie looked more like on of those inflatable clown punching toys for children, but he had had the right to be scared. Akihiko was a handful just by himself and although he also was always looking for a good fight, he at least had SOME inhibitions. A shadow version with none who was just out to hurt and maim people would be a serious problem. Yukari looked back at the real Akihiko. Even if they did get him down and even if they were to wake him up as well, with him in tow they would have a very difficult time getting past the Shadow and they couldn't leave him behind either.

“Sorry guys, it looks like we don’t have a choice for this one.” Yukari hoped the other groups were having a better time avoiding fights with shadows than they were but just defeating three shadows wouldn’t hurt, right?”

A nearby TV screen flashed on, revealing who else but General Teddie. “Ahahahahaha! You guys just keep getting yourselves into these sticky situations, don’t you? Are you sure it isn’t yourselves who have a lust for brawling? Teddie stomped his feet at the sight of the General, “Grrrrrrrr! I’ve had enough of you. You're going to give Yuka-chan, and any other fine ladies out there the wrong idea about me! Why don’t you just come out so I can bear-verize you!” General Teddie shook his cigar. “Hey, don’t get your fur all in a bunch. You should save all that energy for your next opponent.”

“I’d prefer if you’d all come at me at once so I can work up a sweat, but rules are rules. So, which one of you do I get to tear into first?” Being the oldest, his friend, and thinking her long range attacks would give her the edge, Yukari thought it was obvious that she fight the imposter, but Chie had other ideas.

“Let me do it! I’ve been waiting for this!” Chie had already begun her pre-fight stretches. “You? What makes you think you can win?” Yosuke asked incredulously. “All my training has been leading up to this moment. The day I’d get a rematch with my master!”

Yosuke smacked his head, “What training?!? You didn’t even meet this guy until a few days ago! You probably had about a day of training tops since he kicked your butt!”

Chie raised her eyebrow in annoyance, “That doesn’t matter at all, dork. He may have those rippling muscles, but I got fighting spirit!”

Before anyone could stop her, Chie charged ahead and got into a fighting stance. “He you! I’m going to be your opponent!” I’m going to make you pay for what you’ve done to my master’s image! My master fights for justice! He’d never sully his righteous hands fighting only for his own pleasure! Not to mention that yellow doesn’t do his cool, piecing, eyes justice either!”

Yukari shook her head in disbelief at the image of Akihiko this fangirl had concocted in her own head. That muscle head would fight a glass of water if he thought it would make him stronger. He didn’t get that massive scar on his chest for nothing. And what does his eyes have anything to do with this?

Like before, four pillars came crashing down, forming the ring and preventing the others from interfering. Even though the fight had started, the shadow didn’t move from his spot. In fact, he didn’t even get into a stance. Instead he just stood up straight with his arms at his sides and grinned.

Chie thought the imposter was mocking her and not taking her seriously.

“If you’re not going to make the first move then I will!” Chie rushed over and, after planting her foot firmly into the ground, threw out a side-smashing spinning roundhouse. Right before the kick connected, the shadow got a glint in his eyes. Faster than the eye could see, he was able to catch her leg midair and held it tight. “Gotcha,” He taunted. Using his superior strength, he lifted Chie off the ground, swung her around, and slammed her into the arena wall.

The impact took the air right out of Chie’s lungs but she didn’t have time to catch her breath before she was forced to dive out of the way of the Shadow’s fist coming down on her like a hammer. The shadow was relentless, belting out punch after punch and summoning his persona every once in a while to send out a lighting strike to keep Chie on her toes. Chie thought she had bitten off more than she could chew at first, the shadow’s strength and speed seemed overwhelming. But, after a while she realized something, her master and in turn his shadow was indeed faster than she was, but she wasn’t having any problems dodging at all. The shadow seemed to lack the “finesse” that her master displayed while fighting. The shadow was so intent on just crushing her, it was forgoing any real sense of strategy. His punches had power behind it but not much thought.

Chie backed herself into a corner, and when the Shadow pulled back for a devastating blow, she ducked out of the way. Chie wasn’t sure if Shadows actually had bones but if they did, then Shadow Akihiko certainly cracked a few when his arm collided with the impenetrable ring wall. As the shadow gripped it’s arm in pain, Chie delivered a flying kick to the shadow’s stomach, sending him sliding across the ground.

“TOMOE!” Chie quickly summoned her persona before the shadow had time to act. Her magic power wasn’t as strong as most of her other team members, but in this instance, it would get the job done. Her persona produced a wall of ice, separating the two from the shadow. Undeterred, the shadow ran straight at the wall, busting through it like it was paper. However, once he was through the wall, all he saw was Chie’s back as turned in the air. Before he could raise his guard, Chie landed and hit the shadow square in the jaw with a monstrous back kick, her “Galactic Punt,” so named because when she first tried it out on a soccer ball during a game when she was in elementary school, Yukiko in awe said that the ball went so high it had to have “flown off into space.”

Unlike the ball or the countless shadows sent flying by her kick, Shadow Akihiko stood his ground, not budging an inch. Her leg numb by the kick, Chie fell to the ground, and attempted to crawl away. She started to berate herself for thinking that such a move could defeat someone like her master, but that is when she heard a large gasp of air.

“D-D-Damn…it…” The shadow sputtered out. The kick may not have sent him to the stars, but it did a lot more damage then Chie first realized. The Shadow took three shaky steps toward her before he had to take a knee.

“VICTORY! HAAAAHHHH!!” Chie shouted as delivered one final jumping uppercut to the Shadow’s face where her kick had landed moments earlier. That “one two punch” did the shadow in for good. Chie even heard a ring bell go off when the Shadow landed on the floor, knocked out, and began to melt away.

“I DID IT! I WON! I WON! I WON!” Chie did a lap around the gym. She knew her victory was against a shallow imitation of the real thing, but that didn’t make her victory any less sweet.

Yukari couldn’t help but smirk. She didn’t know anyone who could cross fists with someone like Akihiko and not wake up looking at the ground wondering what happened. Yosuke shouted, “Could you settle down please! You’re embarrassing us. Act like you’ve been there before!”

Chie confidently strolled up to where her master was bound and started to free him. Chie was a little too focused on her victory and her liberation of her master that she undid the last rope without thinking, and her master’s limp body fell right on top of her.

Either the fall shook him awake or it was because of the defeat of his imposter, but Akihiko started to come too. “Ahhhh…my head…what happened?” Most men wouldn’t know what to think if they came too and found themselves on top of a girl, but Akihiko wasn’t most men. Even when face to face with an increasingly red-faced Chie, Akihiko was very slow to get up. “Chie? Is that you? What are you doing here? What’s going…OWWW!”

Akihiko gripped his side after Yukari literally kicked him off of Chie. “Why don’t you save the questions for after you stop squishing the poor girl, what the hell is wrong with you?” Akihiko was surprised to see Yukari there as well. “Oh. Uh. Forgive me. I didn’t hurt you did I?” Chie looked to the ground and shook her head. She had dealt with Yukiko leaning against her after a small stumble during their last “girls night out” together so Akihiko was that heavy to her, his body was just a little harder than her best friend’s was is all.

Akihiko was brought up to speed on what had happened in the last twelve hours. He told them all he knew about the kidnapping, but he couldn’t remember much. “Are any of the other’s here? Junpei? Ken?” He asked Yukari. “I got separated from Ken, Koromaru, and Labrys. I managed to get in contact with that idiot Junpei before the phones went dead, he ended up here by complete accident, but I haven’t seen him.”

Akihiko stood up, already looking like he was ready to join the fray. “Alright then! We still got to find the others. It sounds like you guys have already had an exciting night so far. The next fight is mine!” Chie silently pumped her fist in excitement at her master’s bravado. Yukari poked Akihiko’s forehead, “I told you we are supposed to be avoiding fights. Besides, you have been captured for a while. Are you even in the condition to be fighting?” Akihiko was about to retort before Yukari made his blood run cold. “What would Mitsuru say? Remember the last time you got hurt and tried to fight?”

Chie was quick to defend her master. “My master is the toughest guy around! Nothing scares him!” Judging by the beads of sweat forming on Akihiko’s face, that wasn’t entirely true. “You know, your right, I did just wake up, maybe I should take it easy, just for a little while…”

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Yu and his group had gone through more than twenty floors, at yet they still saw no signs of any of the captured Shadow Operatives or any of their other friends. Ken tried not to show his growing anxiety, but the two soon to be loving parents picked up on it immediately. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Huh?” Ken said. When he looked forward he saw the silver-haired boy looking over his shoulder back at him. “I know your frustrated we haven’t found them yet, but I promise we will. It would only make sense for them to be kept toward the top wouldn’t it?” Naoto nodded, “Whoever is behind all this wouldn’t want us rescuing everybody at the start. The more floors we have to go through to reach them the more chance we have to run into shadows to fight.”

Yukiko’s calm and soothing voice came up behind the boy, “Believe me, if my hubby says we will find them we will! He has never let me or any of my friends down yet.” Ken saw her Yukiko lift and arm and readied himself for another one of her relaxing hugs, only to have her place a hand on his shoulder. “Oh…uh…thank you…” he said sheepishly while quickly moving his raise hand behind his head. “I know Mitsuru and the others are tough but I -OOF!”
Ken ran straight into the back of Yu who had stopped in the middle of the hallway. He didn’t know what it was, but Yu felt a familiar presence approaching them. Yu motioned everyone to step back. “Stop. Don’t move. Something is coming this way.” The five all gazed down the fog filled hallway. Before long, Koromaru started to growl after his ears picked up on the sound of footsteps. Soon after, the footsteps became audible to everyone.

“Who’s there?” Naoto called out. The footsteps just got louder. Once a dark silhouette came into view everyone readied their weapons, everyone except Yu. Not only could he tell the figure was a man, but he also had a pretty good idea of who that man was. His height, his slow walk, his slouching posture, and most of all that familiar feeling all pointed to one person.

“Hey you guys, what’s up? Long time no see.” Standing before them, was the culprit behind the string of murders that plagued Inaba the year before. Tohru Adachi. His tie hung loosely around his neck and he had a weak grip on his old police revolver, it almost hanging off his trigger finger.

“Adachi!?!” The three investigation team members exclaimed, almost not believing what they were seeing. Naoto suggested maybe it was so sort of trick, but Yu knew he was the real thing.

“What are you all giving me that look for? I’m the one who should be angry, you know? I mean none of you have come to visit me once,” Adachi said in jest. “But I guess that’s okay, you all would have just ruined my good mood.”

“You should be in jail!” Naoto shouted. Adachi smirked, “Well if it isn’t the detective prince? Everyone still treating like a snot nosed kid? I bet it hurt that I turned myself in and denied you the glory of capturing me yourself and gotten that respect you crave.” Naoto thrusted her weapon farther out toward the nonchalant Adachi, “That’s not what taking you down was about!” Adachi face grew serious. He was able to move a lot faster than his appearance let on, and before she could react he raised his own revolver at the young detective causing her to flinch. After a moment Adachi’s face softened and he lowered his gun, “Let’s not get too hasty. Didn’t you parents ever teach you violence doesn’t solve anything? I’m only here to talk.

Ken leaned over to Naoto, “Who is this guy?”

“Tohru Adachi. He is directly responsible for the murders of two people, the attempted murder of another, and orchestrated the kidnappings of multiple others, me and Yukiko included, through manipulation. Ken turned back to Adachi, “Oh, so this is that guy, huh?” Ken took one step forward, joining Yu in shielding his heavily pregnant wife.

“I don’t recall seeing you before. Judging by your school uniform, you’re not from around here. That must mean you’re one of that red-headed woman’s lackeys. Don’t you think you’re a little young to be getting involved in things like this? It must be way past your bedtime.” Adachi mocked.

“Tell me where you’re keeping Mitsuru and the others!” Ken shouted. *BARK!* “Grrrrrrrrr…” Koromaru bared his teeth at the former detective but Adachi was completely unfazed. “Oh, and you got a dog too! You know, I used to have to feed the dogs we have down back at the station. I swear those mangy mutts we’re treated better than I was.” Adachi’s tone grew a little more sinister, “I’m not really a “dog person.””

“Adachi, what are you doing here? Didn’t you say before that you were going to abide by the rules of this world? ” Yu asked calmly. Adachi when back to his cheery self, “Haha, well I had decided to be a model prisoner, but then the strangest thing happened. Someone came to me asking for help and I…uh…thought…”

Adachi trailed off as his eyes caught a glimpse of the black-haired girl tightly gripping Yu's sleeve. It wasn’t the girl herself that had him flabbergasted, it was her size. He was surprised he hadn’t noticed her earlier. Despite standing in the back of the small group, he could still see so “much” of her. Even two Yu’s standing side by side would just barely be able to block the wide woman from view with the way her hips flared out.

“Excuse me a moment, but this has been the first time in a while I’ve been at a loss for words. Looks like there is an elephant in the room that needs addressing.” Adachi’s smile only grew bigger when he saw that Yu didn’t appreciate that last joke. “I heard that you let your stupidity get the best of you and you ended up knocking up that Amagi girl, but no one told me what a thorough job you did. Just how many are you expecting? Four? Five? Dumb ass and Fat ass coming together. Tell me, what do you call a couple of brats from two other brats?”

“Don’t you dare call my son a brat!” Yukiko demanded. The growing displeasure on both their faces was just too much! “Don’t tell me it’s only one!” Adachi gasped, acting like he didn’t already know that. “That’s just how women are though, they reel you in with their pretty looks and once they know you can’t get away, they just let themselves fall apart. Or, in your case, built herself up. Way way up.” Adachi shrugged, “And I can tell, it’s only going to get worse. If she has gotten this big now, think about a few years down the line when that high school metabolism comes to a screeching halt. You may have to start rolling her around. During his tirade, Adachi became somewhat perplexed. His insults were all hitting, but it was more who they were coming from than what was actually being said. Yu didn’t seem the least bit bothered by his threats of his wife getting even heavier than she already was. In fact, he noticed when he said that, Yu’s brought a hand to his mouth for a moment, like he was trying to cover something up. Adachi decided to continue.

I can say if this had happened earlier, Namatame would have never gotten all that through the TV! Just think of the man’s poor back!” Yukiko scowled. She wasn’t going to let Adachi of all people mock her.

Pushing past Ken before Yu was able to grab her. “Don’t think for a second that my pregnancy will prevent me from setting your hair alight!” She threatened. Even with the relatively spherical belly the large inn heiress sported, Adachi never would have guess she was pregnant by the way her whole body wobbled if he didn’t already know beforehand. Her red dress made her look like an overripe tomato. He was about to make another jest akin to asking if the Amagi’s owned any farmland before Yu interrupted him. "You’re just wasting your breath. My Yuki is not only beautiful, but I think she grows even moreso every day. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise.”

“Oh hubby…” Yukiko whispered before the two moved in for a kiss. Adachi thought he was going to gag from such a sickly sweet display, and from the looks of it the boy and the detective prince had to look away as well, but something else caught his attention. Something about Yu’s words about his wife “growing more beautiful by the day,” bothered him. And, as the two kissed he couldn’t help but notice the way the boy unconsciously gripped and stroked the heft girl’s bulging love handles. That was all he needed to connect the dots, he was a detective after all, if “retired.” Adachi licked his lips like someone placed a nice, juicy steak in front of him. He wondered if the Amagi girl knew about her lover being a proponent of proverb “bigger is better.”

“You know, maybe it’s not your fault you’ve become such a cow since I last saw you. You gotta eat to do that and all that food has got to come from somewhere.” Yu froze up as Adachi’s gaze slowly turned to him. His smug expression told Yu he had found him out. “Just what have you been feeding this girl?” Yukiko got the wrong idea of what Adachi meant and helped to bury her husband even further.

“I’ll have you know my hubby has been nothing but supportive of me and our child. He is a wonderful chef and cooks us the most delicious and filling meals at any hour of the day. He feeds us just fine thank you!”

“Hahaha! Does he? And you aren’t bothered at all about what all this eating does to your waistline?” Yukiko stood tall. “Not in the slightest! I’ll get as big as I need to properly care for my child!” Adachi turned back to Yu, “Wow! She must be quiet the catch for a man of your tastes. You got yourself your own personal…” Adachi was cut off by a slow rumbling that shook the building slightly. It felt like it came from the top floor. “Damn, it looks like I’m almost out of time. And I was having so much fun too.”

Adachi rubbed the back of his neck, then spoke back up. “Earlier, you were blabbering on about rules, but don’t you think some rules are meant to be broken? I mean, if you try and stick to the rules of this tournament, who knows what will happen…”

“You mean how the whoever is behind all this had tried to trick us into fighting in order to obtain the pieces of are persona’s shaved off during the battle.” Naoto said. Adachi was legitimately surprised. “You mean you already figured it out? And yet you and all your friends still keep getting into fights? I knew you brats weren’t that smart, but it looks like I still over estimated you.”

“What are the fragments being used for?” Ken asked.

“Now why would I go and give away something like that. It was all so long and complicated I wasn’t really listening when it was explained to me. Whatever he’s summoning, it’s going to be nasty.”

Remembering the boy with the cross shaped scare, Naoto deduced he was the person Adachi was talking about. “If you know all about what’s going on, then tell us. Who is Minazuki? Is he behind it all? What is being summoned?” Naoto implored.

Adachi shook his head, “I honestly don’t know who he is, and I don’t really care. He doesn’t stick around much you see. I’m usually stuck with the Sho kid. You got to be careful around that guy, he can be a real handful. He thought you guys would have made it to the top by now. If you guys don’t hurry he might start offing a few of you to relieve his boredom. I can relate to that.”

“Sho? Is there yet another accomplice…” Naoto said to herself. “But, I also remember Minazuki said his first name was Sho. What does it all mean…”

Adachi cackled. “Funny that. Frankly, I don’t see how the two can stand “living” together. But, I better be getting back. Don’t want to be absent for when the last of the fragments they need are collected. At the pace you’re moving at, you’ll never be able to stop them in time. Did you guys perhaps take a detour to the cafeteria? Hahahaha. You all should probably make your way straight to the top.”

Adachi turned to leave and Yu’s attempts to continue their conversation were waved off, “I forgot how exhausting it is talking to you guys. I don’t know how I’ll ever make it back up to the top in time.” Before Adachi disappeared back into the fog, Yu heard Adachi say something under his breath, “Which room was that secret elevator in again…”

“Hey! Wait a minute!” Ken yelled. He tried to run after him, but he was stopped by all three members of the investigation team. It was no use to chase after him. Trying to catch him now would only serve to get them lost and waste more time. Adachi wasn’t going anywhere. He’d be on the top floor along with the mastermind.

“Naoto, did you hear what Adachi said?” Yu asked. Naoto rubbed him chin in thought. “A secret elevator. If what Adachi said is true, it may be our only chance to reach the top in time.” Ken was skeptical about the who thing, “But that guy’s a murder right? How can we believe anything he says? It could be a trick.”

“I don’t think that is the case.” Yu said. He knew Adachi better than most and he couldn’t shake the feeling Adachi was telling the truth. He had actually been surprisingly forthcoming with information. He tried to tip them off about how the tournament was a trap, they now knew the fragments were being used to summon something, and that there was another person running around, this “Sho” character. Looking at Naoto he could tell she was thinking the exact same thing. Ken continued to have doubts. “Even if it was true, how would we find this elevator?”

Naoto continued to scratch her chin if thought, “If there is an elevator then there has to be and elevator shaft. I didn’t see such a structure on the outside of the building which would mean it is completely internalized. If that’s the case, then the fact a lot of the rooms in this maze look the same will work to our advantage. We just have to find a room that doesn’t look like the others.”

“What about the captured Shadow Operatives?” Yukiko chimed in. “The way I see it, if they haven’t been rescued by our friends already, we can use the elevator to confront the culprit or culprits behind all this. If we defeat them then everyone they have captured should be safe.”

“That works for me,” Yukiko said with a smile, “I don’t know about you, but an elevator sounds lovely right about now.” Yukiko directed her attention to her round middle, “I was worried you would be affected by all this running around like mama, but you haven’t made a single fuss all night. You're so well behaved!” Yu rallied the team, “Alright, our objective is to find this elevator. Be careful, we don’t know what Adachi’s game is yet, so it could also be some sort of trap.”

It took some time and some backtracking but eventually Naoto found what she was looking for. “Right here. This room is exactly like all the others on this side of the hall, but if you look closely you can see that it is actually a little bit smaller. This wall here has to come out further into the room because it has to hide something behind it.”

Naoto began to rub the wall up and down, occasionally giving it a few knocks. Eventually she came to a particular spot and after knocking on it a few more times, gave the wall a hard elbow. Out of the wall flipped out a control panel of some kind. “Naoto what would we do without you!” Yu said while pumping his fist. Naoto couldn’t help but blush from the praise, “It was nothing, really.” Naoto pressed a large green button on the panel, and like magic, the wall in front of them opened up to reveal what they were looking for.

“A secret elevator hidden in the wall. It’s like something you’d see in a mad scientist’s lab in an episode of Featherman.” Ken quickly covered his mouth and looked to see if anyone heard him. He may be in middle school now, but he still found himself secretly watching Featherman from time to time like when he would in the Iwatodai Dormitory. He saw Yukiko staring at him, but before he could say anything her face grew very serious. Giving him a thumbs up and in a heroic voice she said, “Unless we defeat evil, we can forget about a bright future!"

Leaving Ken baffled at how to react to that, Yukiko set her focus on Naoto. “You seem to know a lot about these kinds of things Naoto. And remember that lab where we rescued you in the TV world? Are you a fan of Featherman as well?”

Naoto didn’t answer the question, but she didn’t deny it either. Pressing another button on the control panel she called, elevator back down. When the lift reached their level and the doors opened however, it was revealed to be occupied. With thunderous footsteps, out came a large jiggling orb of a belly and attached to that belly, was a very familiar shadow.

“Why hello everyone! I’m so glad you’re here. That means I don’t have to tire myself out looking for you all. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to get this far!” Standing before them was another Yukiko with glowing yellow eyes and she looked just has pregnant as the real thing.

It was always a possibility that Yukiko’s shadow would appear, everyone else seemed to have one, but that didn’t stop the group from being surprised from her waddling out of the elevator. “Hmm? What’s the matter?” Yukiko grabbed the sides of her ready maternity dress. “Were you expecting something a little more formal? Maybe a pink princess gown?” she teased. I may be treated like one, but I don’t think I can squeeze my fat ass into that little number anymore.” She gave one of her fattened cheeks a slap for emphasis. “Even if I could, I’d be bursting at the seams!” She peered over her shoulder and gave Yu a sly smile. “And who would ever want to see something like that?”

Yu had to look away to hide his embarrassment. Ken and Naoto didn’t know what to think either. Yukiko on the other hand decided she wanted to take a closer look at “herself.” Before Yu could call her back, Yukiko waddled over to her grinning shadow. Tilting her head, she slowly took a few laps around the massive being.

“Am I really this big?” She wondered. Of course, Yukiko was well aware of the significant amount of weight she had gained since she became pregnant. It wasn’t like the Inn was devoid of mirrors, and she had the task of moving her increasing bulk around every day. But, seeing herself in this way, being able to not only see herself from all angles but also in motion, added a whole other dimension to her size. While most girls would be horrified by watching their body “bounce” the way her Shadow’s did, Yukiko couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. In her mind she just looked so motherly!

“Like what you see?” the Shadow Yukiko asked when Yukiko came to a halt in front of her after finishing her inspection. The shadow could tell she did by how pleased Yukiko looked. “You look amazing.” Yukiko said while clapping her hands together and smiling. Realizing what she just said, Yukiko used her hand not currently on belly duty to cover her mouth, “I guess I should mean, WE look good. Oh! I hope I don’t come off as too conceited saying that.”

“Nonsense! I don’t see the harm in loving oneself.” The shadow reassured her. The rest of the squad were perplexed by what they were seeing. They had expected those strange pillars to appear once Yukiko had gotten in range of the shadow and for the shadow to attack. But instead they were having a friendly chat. There was still something slightly off by the shadow’s smile, but even then, they could not sense a hint of aggression in the shadow, at least not yet. They knew that could change in an instant, so they kept on their toes.

The shadow slid her hands down her extravagantly voluptuous curves. “We certainly are the paragons of fertility aren’t we?” The Shadow place her hands on the bottom of her hanging baby belly and slowly slid them up it’s vast expanse until they came to rest on top. “People take one look at this and there is no doubt in their mind that what is going on with us.” Shadow Yukiko then slide her hands under her breasts resting heavily on her belly shelf. She pretended to struggle to lift them and then quickly let them fall. They plopped heavily back on her gravid gut, causing the surface of both to ripple. “So fruitful!” She winked.

Yukiko couldn’t help but give one of her own breasts a tiny squeeze, “It’s all part of the experience, isn’t it?” Next the shadow placed her hands on the her pudding laden hips, letting out a tiny whimper as her finger’s sunk into her sides. “Look at these hips! This is a pair of grade-A birthing hips if I ever saw them. If we get any wider then our child could probably just walk out!” Yukiko chuckled at the thought. “Anything to make it easier for him.”

Finally, the shadow again gave her ass a slap. “Can’t forget about this. Oh my god. Just look at this butt. Built almost exclusively for our comfort! And his…” The Shadow pointed at Yu who again turned his head away in embarrassment. “You’re lucky you’re a good cook, or we probably wouldn’t have let you fatten us up even half as much as we have.” The Shadow turned back to her counterpart and shook her head. “I swear, father and son working in tandem to make us blimp out as much as possible!” The shadow teased Yu again, “For you, it truly is the heavier the sexier isn’t it?”

Yukiko blinked rapidly and looked her husband who the shadow put on the spot. Was what her shadow was saying true?

She heard from Chie once there were people who were into bigger women, but she thought it was a rare preference and she never thought her hubby would be one of those people. She did a little hop in place that sent almost her whole body quivering. There was no way Yu was unaware of just how much of her size increase could be attributed to pure fat. It would be impossible with how often he had his hands on her. That is when she began to recall all those make out sessions, all the massages and lotionings, all the late night snuggles. How every once in a while during those times, Yu couldn’t help but pinch or squeeze her love handles or a small roll. It was still fresh in her mind when he did it during their encounter with Adachi. She recalled Adachi had made a comment on his tastes as well, and she immediately remembered Yu’s comment to Adachi about how she was growing more beautiful every day. That comment obtained a whole new meaning if Yu found her weight gain attractive. It would explain why Yu seemed so “In the mood” after she finished a large one of his meals and why she felt their “intimate” moments had gotten more and more intense lately.

Yukiko placed her free hand on her tomato red face. While she was surprised by all this it wasn’t exactly a bad thing. If anything, the only problem was that she wished he would have told her about it himself if it was true. It did raise a few questions though. What about her flabbier body made it so attractive? And if he liked this sort of thing, what drew him to her when she was skinny twig? Was getting her fat a plan from the start?

She had actually come to enjoy her new body quiet a bit, and the thought of Yu loving it as well just intensified those feelings. All that work around the inn had helped to give him a more muscled and toned body that drove her crazy, so if her pudge did the same thing for him then what was the harm? His food was just so delicious, and the baby still needed to eat so everyone won in the end. She still had a few months to go, so she definitely wasn’t done growing. Those months would give more time to become even more of an ideal wife for Yu…

Yukiko was snapped out of her daydream by the hand on her cheek. She felt that her face had become red hot and that she had started to excitedly nibble on her pinky. She couldn’t get ahead of herself just yet. This was really all just speculation at this point. Adachi and a shadow were hardly reputable sources. Once this was all over she would sit down with Yu and have a chat about all this.

“What are you looking at? Would you like to join us?” The Shadow asked Naoto as their two eyes locked together. “Sorry, but I don’t have much to say when it comes to Yu’s likes or dislikes as it pertains to the female form.” Yu’s increasing displays of public affection, while they were with their friends, despite Yukiko’s increase in size, had given way to the possibility that he may have found her more attractive that way, but she could never say with certainty. There were many other factors at play, they might have always been that way in private and had just grown more comfortable displaying it public as time went on. Either way, it wasn’t really Naoto’s place to speculate on such things. The shadow wagged her finger at the blue haired detective and smirked. “That’s not what I meant.” The words in her next sentence were all punctuated with a light pat of her cushioned baby belly. “Would. You. Like. To. Join. Us?”

Naoto’s deadpan expression started to crack a little, “I-I haven’t the slightest idea of what you mean.” The shadow’s smile grew wider, “Oh, I think you do. You may not have displayed quite the excitement the other girls had when they heard the news, but you certainly found the whole baby thing…intriguing say the least. Who was it who did all that research on the subject the minute she got home?” Naoto cheeks became flushed, “That was all for Yukiko’s sake. I just thought she could use a little help on the matter.” That part was true, but the shadow kept pushing.

“And you didn’t learn anything about yourself and all? What about the first time you laid your hands on this huge belly and felt the life inside? It didn’t awaken any strange and new feelings inside of you?”

Naoto had spent so much time focusing on her career as a detective and actively trying to hide her gender, that eventually settling down and having children of her own was never something that she could have considered a possibility, let alone something she might actually want herself someday. However, her research, feeling the babies kick the first time, and seeing the unbridled joy Yukiko displayed everyday had caused her to experience a new “sensation” she wasn’t accustomed to, and she did start to think about where she’d be a few years down the line. But, she told herself it wasn’t anything serious yet, and she wasn’t about to admit her thoughts to a shadow.

The Shadow turned to the side, giving Naoto a look at her profile and letting her take in all her maternal glory. “You know the best way to learn is to experience, don’t you?” She pointed toward Naoto’s chest. “We know what you are hiding under there! You got a leg up on most women. Just imagine how much they’d grow out after you have been knocked up!

Naoto covered her chest and turned away. “Th-Th-Those are none of your business!” She stammered. The shadow threw her head back and moaned, “Oh, Naoto darling, you don’t know what your missing out on, on how great this feels!” The Shadow glanced back over to Yukiko and gave her a look that made it seem like she wanted her to back her up. Yukiko didn’t want to help the shadow tease her friend, but she didn’t want to lie about it either…

“It um…is an amazing feeling…” Yukiko said as she drummed her fingers atop her swollen middle.

“You know Naoto, you’re so smart and mature, I think you would make a wonderful mom…when you’re ready of course!” This didn’t help Naoto at all in calming herself down and Yukiko’s words just made her even more flustered. It was like the two were ganging up on her now! Naoto gripped her hat and pulled it down over her head as best she could.

The shadow still wouldn’t let up on the detective prince. “Think of all the perks that come with it. All those foods you would normally deny yourself become open to you. You can just glut yourself all day and no one can say a word. You ARE pregnant after all. Your supposed to become big as a house.”

Yukiko admitted that getting to eat and enjoy all the delicious foods she normally would have turned down was a treat, but there was a lot more to it than that. “It’s about providing for your child. Knowing that your eating so much because you ARE eating for two. Knowing that every bite you take is helping to nurture your child and help it grow.” The shadow paid no mind to it’s counterpart’s words and continued on, “What about all the attention you get! Everyone stops to ask you all sorts of questions, how far along you are, when it’s due, what the gender is, if they can feel the baby kick. It’s like you’re a famous movie star.”

Yukiko furrowed her brow at the shadows last comment, it sounded a little too selfish for her taste. “Yes, but what about the first time you feel the baby move? For me, that’s when it all became so real. It was like my son was letting me know he was here and that he was doing well. The feeling of having new life that you and the one you love created together take shape inside of you is indescribable! It really makes you start counting down the days until it’s born.”

The shadow moaned again, “Oh yes! Just think about when the baby is born. If you think you’re the center of attention now, think of when you are pushing around a cute little baby! Everyone will want to give you their congratulations and shower you with praise!”

Yukiko bit her lower lip, “That day you first get to hold your baby in your arms. The day your family becomes whole. Seeing him smile when he first lays eyes on you and his father. Getting to hear his laugh, his voice, for the first time. Knowing your job has just begun and that you will do everything in your power to make sure he grows up protected, supported, and loved…”

Yukiko’s musings of days to come was cut short by the familiar feeling of a tingle in the pit of her stomach that moved up her spine and ended with a feeling of dampness around the chest area of her dress. Sure enough, two dark, wet stains had spread out across her top as the milk she released bled through the cloth. Yukiko couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She had already had her “release” a few days ago. This was the first time it had happened more than once in a week. It wasn’t as much as she would usually leak, a slight dribble, but it definitely was there. Her heart skipped a few beats when she took it as meaning that she was that much closer to the baby’s arrival.

“HAHAHAHA! Disgusting!” Yukiko’s serene expression turned dark when she heard her shadow. “Excuse me?” She said incredulously. “Nothing! I just hate when that happens. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate how big my breasts are.They are a real head turner! But that is something I can do without. I mean look at you, you’ve ruined that dress!” Yukiko tried to explain that there was nothing repulsive about what she had done and that it was all for the baby’s benefit.

“Spare me! Hanging off me like some leech? No thanks! His father can bottle feed him. What about my benefit? I mean, I will have brought him into this world. Isn’t that enough? He just needs to worry about being cute and adorable for momma to show off and not cry as much. Nurturing and helping him grow? Don’t make me laugh. What mother would want that?”

The shadow glanced over at Ken who was still reeling after realizing what those stains on Yukiko’s dress were. “Once they get to that age people seem to forget all the effort their mothers have put into raising them. When they do something right or stand out none of that acclaim comes back to you. Without their mothers they would be nothing, literally!” The Shadow Yukiko sneered, “Really, once they grow up, the only thing they’re good for is taking care of you once your old. But I guess all that free labor will be nice for the inn too…”

Yukiko was left speechless at her shadow’s egotistical self-serving attitude. In a rare act, Yukiko removed both hands from her belly, balled her hands into a pair of fists, and threw them to her sides. “You’re the leech! Being a mother is about giving! You shouldn’t expect anything in return. Seeing your child’s happiness and success in life should be reward enough. Your child is its own person! Not some object to show off and put away when it suits you. You’re the worst! Ever!”

Yu couldn’t remember the last time Yukiko went off like this. The shadow’s words really got to her. However, the shadow wasn’t negatively affected by the tongue lashing she was receiving at all. She just continued to smile sadistically. Soon, Yukiko was out of breath from all the screaming she did and that is when the shadow made it’s move. The shadow reached behind herself and pulled out a pair of razor sharp fans. But before she could strike her pooped other self, two shots rang out and knocked them away.

The recovered Naoto trained her weapon on the fake Yukiko as Yu lead his wife to safety. “Sorry, but I’ve decided I’d be your opponent. Even if you are a fake I couldn’t ask Yu to do it, and I won’t let Yukiko put herself or her baby in harms way. We need to get on that elevator, and it looks like the only way is through you.”

The Shadow Yukiko cackled, “You should have said so sooner. Then I wouldn’t have had to waste all that time getting you all riled up. I guess It was pretty funny regardless.” Yukiko waddled over to her fans and slowly bent down to pick them up. “Don’t think this will be easy for you. I may seem like a cow, but I fight like a mama bear!”

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“Come on you guys! Himiko may not be able to see through this red fog but we are near the top! I just know it!” Rise looked behind herself to see the two boys following a few steps behind her. “Yeah, Yeah! We’re coming. Just give us a minute!” Kanji barked.

The Shadow Sluggers continued to press forward and were always ready for the next fight, but the night had begun to take its toll on the male members of the group. Unlike Rise who could keep the Shadows at bay, creating barriers while simultaneously attacking from afar, the boys usually had to get up close and personal minus a few magical attacks. With their team lacking a dedicated healer, that meant they had accumulated several scratches, scrapes, bumps, and bruises. Not to say Rise was completely unscathed, sometimes there was just no stopping a shadow’s attack and was forced to take a hit. Their clothes also showed the signs of battle. Rips, tears, frayed edges, dirt, sweat stains, and some burn marks made even Kanji pause and wonder if he could fix it all.

Their weapons had seen better days, Kanji’s folding chair looked so banged up that if he attempted to unfolded it the thing might very well just fall apart. Rise’s microphone stand was bent in multiple places and one of it’s base legs had fallen away. Junpei’s bat was probably in the best shape since it was made to hit things, but it still had a few sizable
dents in it.

“Nice to see you got your enthusiasm back! You know after…” Junpei trailed off not wanting to evoke any images of the morbidly obese Shadow Rise they had run into earlier. “Anyway! Not many people I know would willingly volunteer to fight Mitsuru, even if it was just a fake.”

Rise beamed on reflection of her recently ended battle. “I almost felt bad having to mess up someone so gorgeous. I mean, her fashion sense is strange to say the least, but her hair is so luxurious! I’ll have to ask her how she does it when we find her.” Rise undid her pigtails and quickly styled her hair to cover one eye like the icy empress. “Think I can pull it off Kanji?” She joked.

“Huh? I guess? How the hell am I supposed to know?” Kanji had been pretty quiet for the past few floors. It didn’t take Rise’s “woman’s intuition” to tell something was up. “Hey, is something the matter?” Rise asked.

Kanji rubbed the back of his head, “I mean, well, I guess I’ve been thinking.” Rise chuckled, “Wow! Something IS wrong!” Kanji frowned, “Hey, watch it!” Kanji continued, “Anyway, we’ve been busted heads all night. And yet, all the shadows are still insisting on the whole “One on One” fights deal. I mean if their plan hinges on all this, shouldn’t they have dropped the whole tournament thing and decide to come at as all at once to try and stop us?”

Rise gave Kanji a firm slap on the back, “Silly Kanji, your just overthinking things.” Junpei agreed, “Yeah dude. Whoever is behind all this is probably just overconfident and thinks that even if we defeat all the Shadows that he can take care of us himself. But we know better! We’re unstoppable!”

“Yeah! Bad guys don’t care about their minions, right? The shadows are probably just cannon fodder to try and wear us down. So, they probably don’t care how much we mow down!"

"Let’s not forget our friends are somewhere around here as well so the rest their forces are probably spread too thin to make a group attack like that!”

Rise and Junpei’s explanation was more than adequate for Kanji. “Yeah, Alright. I guess that makes sense. Sorry, I guess I was just overthinking it.” Kanji found his zeal returning to him, “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go find this leader or whatever and kick his ass!”

A few more floors up, the group came across a door that was unlike the others they had seen so far. The close proximity allowed Rise to sense that there were two beings inside, but she could decipher who they were or if they were even human. “Only one way to find out!” Kanji shouted with no sense of subtlety. He kicked the door open and rushed inside followed closely behind by his two comrades.

The inside of the room looked like some sort of studio, complete with lights, cameras, band equipment and a stage. Rise feared for a second that this would be the perfect place for a “comeback tour” for her shadow. That fear quickly dissipated when her eye caught sight of a young woman with teal hair attached to a cross.

“Fuuka!” Rise called out. Junpei gritted his teeth at the sight of one of his friends in such a position, “Those bastards!” That’s when he noticed the second person in the room standing at the foot of the cross, a brown-haired woman in a bizarre pink getup. “Yukari? Is that you?” Junpei ran toward the two women, “Come on you guys, lets help her get Fuuka down!

Junpei skidded to a stop in front of the strangely dressed women. He knew their first priority was to get Fuuka down, but he couldn’t help but comment on his friend’s attire. “Uhhh Yuka-tan? What’s with the crazy outfit? Is that really what’s “in” now?” Kanji and Rise were just as perplexed by it once they got a closer look. “This is weird. Is that a…featherman outfit?” Kanji asked. “Yeah! It’s kind of like those costumes Yu tried to get you guys to wear that one time, but it looks like it’s much better quality. Studio quality even!” While Kanji was more interested in the outfit and what it was made of, Rise’s attention turned to it’s occupant. Just like Mitsuru, this woman was absolutely beautiful. “She could be on TV or maybe even in movies! All the girls in the shadow operative are just so pretty!” Rise said with a sense of awe.

The brown haired woman shot Junpei a quick glance and scoffed, “Looks like the moron decided to show up.” Junpei shook his head and let out a fake laugh, “Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Look, I know your mad about me not charging my phone, but you can give me the business later. Here, I’ll undo her arms, you get her legs.” But “Yukari,” did not budge.

“Really! How do you even function? Do you have to screw up everything? And FYI, you look disgusting. I can smell you from here.” It was around this time that Rise started to use her scanning ability to check on Fuuka’s vitals. While in scan mode, she analyzed the “Yukari” in front of them as well and the results weren’t good. “Look out! That’s not your friend! It’s a shadow!” she shouted. “With how ruthless she is being, It certainly sounds like she is a shadow…”

Junpei peered back over his shoulder while undoing Fuuka’s bindings, “Huh? Naaah. Believe it or not she is always like this, at least to me.”

He turned his head toward “Yukari.” “And I may be a little sweaty but that is just because of all the fighting we have been doing!” Junpei tone grew more boastful, “You know, with all the shadows we defeated, I think me and my team here have basically wrapped this all…WOAH!”

Junpei opened his eyes just in time to move out of the way of a slap. “Hey! What’s the big ide-“ Junpei ducked to avoid being clobbered by the bow swung at his face. “Yukari” swung it a few more times, forcing Junpei to dodge until he was herded into the center of the room. It was then Junpei noticed “Yukari’s” Eerie glowing yellow eyes. “You are a shadow!” he shouted.

“Brilliant deduction, Ace Defective. Took you long enough to notice.” The Shadow Yukari raised one hand in the air summoning the pillars that came crashing down, forming the ring. “You’re going to regret calling me that!” Junpei said with a smirk while taking a few practice swings with his bat. Junpei addressed his two comrades who were sitting right outside the barrier. “I’ll take care of this. You two go help Fuuka.” The two gave him a nod and ran to the aid of the captured shadow operative.

The Shadow let out a haughty laugh, “Don’t you think it’s high time you dropped the whole “leader” thing? We both know your not cut out for it.” The Shadow’s words distracted Junpei long enough for her to quickly draw her bow and launch an arrow at his head. Junpei barely had enough time to dodge, and his hat ended up pinned to one of the pillars. “Great, now I got to pay to get a new one.” He said with a sigh. Junpei ran straight at the shadow, but before he could get in range he was blown backwards by a strong gust of wind and ended up going through a nearby table.

Another arrow grazed his cheek as he sat up and he had to grab a nearby piece of the table in order to block three more that were coming his way. Before he had time to counter attack he was already sailing through the air again, lifted off the ground by another gust of wind.

“Damn it…” Junpei pushed off the debris that had taken off with him, only to see the shadow staring daggers at him. “Really, where do you get off leading these kids around? I hope you told them you’re a disaster waiting to happen. Always putting yourself and everyone around you in danger.”

“That’s not true!” Junpei yelled back. “Really?” The shadow continued to taunt. “Who had to have their butt bailed out by their friends on their very first SEES mission?” Junpei’s eyes widened in surprise. How did this fake know about that? “I…I…had it under control!”

Junpei saw the shadow nock another arrow that glowed green. He tried to block this one as well, but when the arrow collided with the piece of table he held up, the board exploded into splinters. The Shadow had infused the arrow with her wind magic. “And later that night, who wasn’t able to do a thing as the train they were on accelerated out of control?” The shadow released another flurry of arrows at him. Junpei was stuck, he couldn’t attack the shadow at this range and he would just be blown back if he tied to get closer. His only option was to run.

Even running was difficult for him. The arrows didn’t have to hit for the resulting wind explosion to knock him off balance. Stumbling, he dove behind a sturdy looking desk and hid.
“Then because of your stupidity you got captured by the enemy and had to be saved again! Doesn’t sound like a leader to me!” Junpei flinched when yet another wind arrow blew apart a corner of the desk. The shadow’s smile got crueler.

“And what about all that pain you put that poor girl through? Maybe if you hadn’t gotten yourself shot she wouldn’t have had to do what she did.”

“Shut up, god damn it shut up!” Junpei screamed as another piece of the desk he was behind was blown away. “It’s time to face facts! You’re not a leader. You’re weak, a burden! No one can help you now. Just step out and let me end it!”

Junpei curled his legs in closer and covered his ears, not wanting to hear anymore. “shut up shut up shut up!” He didn’t want to believe what the shadow was saying but having all his past mistakes thrown back at him made it difficult to deny. He was never a model student and he always had a bit of a self-esteem issue. That’s why when he obtained his persona, he tried to play the hero because it made him feel important. He was no leader, he couldn’t even coach a baseball team. That’s when the Shadow said something that changed everything.

“That’s why HE was chosen to lead. You could never be like HIM. Maybe if you were stronger then maybe HE would still be here.”

Junpei lowered his hands from his head upon hearing this. The face that showed fear only seconds before now only showed one thing, determination. Picking up his bat, he slowly rose from his hiding spot and marched out in front of the shadow.

“Oh? Tired of hiding?” Shadow Yukari mocked. Junpei just faced down the shadow not, not saying a word. The shadow was a little annoyed that he was no longer showing the terror he had moments before but she elected to change that. “Stay right there!” She sneered. She readied one more arrow. Pulling back on her bowstring extra hard, the arrow turned green like all the others, but the discoloration grew brighter and brighter as she sent more and more magical energy into the arrow. Wind began to swirl around the tip producing a light breeze.

It spun slowly at first, but the spinning grew faster and faster until the light breeze turned to what could only be described as hurricane force winds. A tempest had engulfed the whole ring sending anything not nailed down flying through the air.

The two members of the investigation team couldn’t believe the power. The ring walls seemed indestructible, but they wondered if even they could contain the energy that was about to be unleashed. The Shadow cackled manically as she pulled back on her string even more, “I’D START RUNNING NOW YOU TWO!”

Her laughing stopped when she noticed that Junpei’s expression still hadn’t changed. He continued to stare her down with a gaze so intense she thought she might just catch fire. It wasn’t until the arrow started to flash that she finally let the projectile loose. “TOO STUPID TO KNOW WHEN TO BE SCARED? I’LL WIPE THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE! EAT THIS!” Rise and Kanji saw Junpei raise his bat and get into a batting stance right before she fired.

*CLANG!*

Despite flying faster than the eye could see and hidden behind a wall of wind, Junpei’s bat connected with the mass of swirling energy. Junpei could feel his bat bending, his hands where shaken by the impact, and his legs felt like they could give out at any moment, but he had managed to halt the attack. “WHAT!?!?” The shadow shouted. Junpei smirked as his persona appeared behind him and his bat was engulfed in flames. “Sorry, but I made a promise some time ago to someone that I’d live my life to the fullest. Which means I can’t lose here!” The flames on the bat slowly grew and grew until they slowly swallowed up the shadow’s attack, turning the mass of energy bright white. “Don’t you know that wind only makes flames stronger?” Junpei took one step forward with his leading foot. “I’M SENDING THIS RIGHT OUT OF THE PARK! BUT IT’S GOING THROUGH YOU FIRST!”

Rise and Kanji had managed to free the unconscious Fuuka, but seeing what was about to happen, Kanji threw the two girls behind cover and threw himself on top of them to shield them.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

Junpei followed through with his swing sending the attack back at the Shadow, double the speed and triple the power. The Shadow Yukari didn’t even have time to open her mouth to scream before her final attack literally exploded in her face.

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*KABOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!*

A loud explosion that seemed to emanate a few floors below their feet rocked the whole tower to it’s core. The shaking was so violent that Yu thought the whole tower was about to come down. Ken lost his footing and fell into a nearby tower of desks and chairs while Naoto had to brace herself against a wall to keep her footing. After falling to his knees, Yu quickly scrambled to his wife and was able to catch her and their son before they both came crashing down. The Shadow wasn’t so lucky. With her center of gravity already compromised by her swollen middle and with no one to come to her aid, the Shadow Yukiko stumbled backwards and fell straight into what could only be described as a conveniently placed wastebasket.

Shadow Yukiko would curse the ass that her counterpart had provided for her. Wedge in, all the shadow could do was helplessly flap her arms and kick her feet trying to jiggle herself out. “What the! S-s-omeone help me! Get me out of this thing!” she demanded. Ken, Naoto and even Koromaru’s jaws hung open, not sure what to think of the pathetic display they were seeing. Yu saw the shadow’s labor would be no use. Her wide fattened peach of a rear formed a perfect vacuum seal with the bin and nothing short of a team of firefighters with the jaws of life would ever be able to free her.

“pfffff…-snrk-…AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!”

Yukiko pointed at her dark other and entered on of her laughing fits. Yu still holding her tight, he could feel her soft upper back wobble against him with each chortle. “Laugh it up cow! Once I get loose, I’m gonna…I’m gonna…*huff*…uuuuhhhh…” The shadow’s breathing got heavier as she continued to struggle to free her butt. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead from the effort. Her kicking and flapping got slower and slower until she stopped completely. All that work and she didn’t move an inch.

Gasping for breath, she puffed, “That’s it…I give up…even if…I got out now…I’m far to tired…to stop you now…”

Naoto couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The shadow was just going to give up? Just like that? Not that she was complaining mind you. The fight hadn’t even gotten far enough along for the ring pillars to show up. Frankly, an outcome like this was ideal. With no clash of personas it denied their enemies the persona fragments they needed.

A monitor on a nearby desk flicked on. It was General Teddie and he was not happy. “Give up? GIVE UP? You can’t just give up! You have a job to do. Now get your fat ass up and put on a show!” “Language!” the real Yukiko shouted at the irate bear while protectively gripping her stomach. The shadow Yukiko wiped the sweat off her forehead and place her hands on top of her breasts which ached from all the jiggling around she did. “Shove it furball. I told you I’m done. Really, what did you expect? Have you seen what I look like? How much fighting did you really expect me to do in my delicate state?” General Teddie was at a loss for words. It was obvious he never expected such insubordination from one of his shadows. Maybe it was the hormones talking? If a shadow imitating a heavily pregnant high schooler had hormones to speak of that is. “Grrrrrrrrrr Fine! Stay like that for all I care. You belong in that trash can. You’re useless! Besides, I already got everything I need…”

The TV flickered off. “Does that mean he collected enough persona fragments!?” Ken asked fearfully. “Sure sounds like it. If I had known that, I wouldn’t even have bothered coming down here.” The Shadow puffed. After one more small attempt to pull herself out of the trash can, the Shadow threw her head back and sighed. “I could really use a burger and a nice thick milkshake.” With that, the shadow dissolved away into nothing leaving the group free to board the elevator.

As the lift slowly ascended and the others debated what that loud explosion could have been, Yukiko had a few moments to reflect on the words of her shadow. She knew she shouldn’t let it bother her, especially with the final battle fast approaching but she couldn’t shake the thoughts out of her mind. With a waver in her voice, she spoke up, “Yu…”

“You’re not like that.” he said, not even giving her a chance to finish. She leaned back in surprise, he knew exactly what she was thinking without even looking at her. “I know you. Since we both heard the news you haven’t gone one moment without thinking of our son’s well-being. I have never doubted you for a minute that you would be nothing but a fantastic mom.” Yu chuckled, “even before we ever started dating.” Yukiko’s lip quivered. He said it all so confidently. Deep down she knew the shadow’s words weren’t hers, but it didn’t hurt to hear it from one of the people she loved most in the world either. She felt a tiny flutter from here stomach. Her son’s first stirring of the night. It was almost like he was assuring her as well.

“Remember. That shadow was a complete fabrication. It really only had your looks and voice. Had it been your real shadow even she wouldn’t have been able to say all those nasty things because that isn’t you.” Yu brought his wife in closer. “It wasn’t even a very good fabrication. It couldn’t even capture how beautiful your eyes are…”

Naoto, Ken, and Koromaru stood completely still, all of them internally shuddering by how cheesy Yu’s line was but Yukiko was completely bewitched by her prince charming. “Oh hubby…” The two of them did one of their signature kisses that felt like they lasted for an eternity, only stopping when Yu heard the muffled giggles of his Yuki. When they broke contact, Yukiko went into one of her fits again.

At first Yu thought he had done something wrong, but Yukiko held her hand up “Pffff I’m sorry! -snrk- I couldn’t help it! -snrk- I thought I got it all out of my system but that shadow getting stuck was just too funny!”

Yu smiled at his wife finding the shadow’s predicament so amusing. It brought a whole new meaning to the phrase “Laughing at yourself.” Yu took hold of his wife and began to tickle the flab under chunkier arms, causing her breasts and stomach to bounce up and down from her heavy laughter. “I don’t see what so funny! They way I see it, that could have easily have been you stuck like that!” Yu said teasingly.

“AHAHAHAHAHA! Yu! Quit it! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Yukiko shook even more when she felt a myriad of kicks coming from inside her belly. “AAHHAHAHHA! No fair! AHAHAHAHA! Teaming up with daddy against your mommy! AHAHAHAHAHA!”

Ken silently watched the couple as Yukiko used her pillowy body to press Yu against the back wall of the elevator in an attempt to stop the tickling. They were having the time of their lives just being together. Seeing how supportive of one another they were, any uncertainty he had before had washed away. They may be young, but they were a real family. He knew that baby of theirs was in good hands.

“Ha! Ha! HHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Chie yelled with her hand raised in victory when she was the first to reach the top of the tower. “We made it!” Teddie said in relief when he too reached the top. “Akihiko looked dejected once he came jogging up. “I would have won if it wasn’t for that bear,” he complained. “I take offense to that. Don’t blame me for your failures!”

Yosuke came scrambling up holding his back. “It was your fault! I swear I really did break something this time…” The group had been climbing up another flight of stairs, Chie and Akihiko racing as a form of training when suddenly the whole tower shook from what felt like an explosion.