Persona 4 RP Phase 2

"No problem." Stefan commented. "..I'm still a friend after all." He said quietly.

The shadow writhed for a moment before the fireball exploded inside it. As smoke poured out of its mouth, the Shadow staggered and began to change its form.

"Not this time!" shouted Shinta as he ran to cut the shadow, but it leapt into the air to evade his strike. "What the-?" Shinta looked up and saw the shadow's new form. It had turned into what resembled a vulture that flew above the group. With a flap of its wings, several paper feathers rained down at the party.

"Watch the papers! We don't know what they'll do!" Stefan called out.

"E-er!" Dahni panicked a bit, trying to take Stefan's advice.

"Shit." said Shinta as he tried to dodge between the feathers, occasionally getting cut. "Hah!" Shinta swung his knife and a large gust of wind repelled the remaining feathers. Breathing heavily Shinta dropped to a knee.

"You alright Shinta?!" Stefan yelled, dodging papers as he worked his way toward him.

"Goddammit!" Masuyo shouted as his right arm was cut. "Bastard bird!" he shouted as he swung his kendama around one of its wings and pressed the button to make the string retract, pulling him up to the shadow. "Down to earth with you!" he said as he froze its wings making it unable to fly much longer.

"Here." Yomiko said as she healed Shinta's wounds. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," Shinta said standing up, "just a little winded is all." The shadow thrashed about as it struggled with its newly added weight. "Guess that's it for you." The shadow discarded its wings and quickly reformed into a smaller, more canine appearence. Without the extra weight it quickly lunged at Masuyo, zig-zaging at great speeds before pouncing at him.

"NAWWWWW GOD!" he shouted as it pinned him to the ground. "MASH A MASH A MASH A MASH A!!!!!!!" he shouted as he flailed around trying to keep it from tearing his throat out.

Stefan jumped over Masuyo, spinning in the air, slamming his halbred into the shadow's skull. "Hah!!" He growled. "You alright?!"

Maeko attempted to stay in a group with the others. "Garula!" Titania blasted away nearby papers as she made her way over to Shinta. "Dahni! Look alive!"

"Yeah thanks, but we gotta strike its core to put it outta commission!" Masuyo said getting up.

"S-sorry!"Dahni said, she moved around, trying to get a good shot.

"Here." Stefan held his hand out to help Masuyo onto his feet. "Any good ideas to get that chance?"

"Just one," Shinta said swinging his knife at the shadow, "Hyah!" The shadow leapt to evade the attack but Shinta smirked. Underneath the shadow sprouted a whirlwind that steadily peeled the paper from the shadow's core.

"Got it!" Stefan's halbred glowed. "Holy Strike!" With that, a powerful force came from Stefan's blade, splitting the shadow's core in two. "Hah! Gotcha!"

"Phew...not bad." said Shinta wiping his brow, "Guess that takes care of the mid-boss."

"...He sure likes to steal all the glory..." Maeko glared at Stefan. Titania faded as Maeko walked over to the others, lowering her harpoon.

"Something wrong Maeko?" Stefan asked, looking at her.

"..Just that we don't trust you exactly." Dahni responded, glaring at him as well.

"It's not only that...It's not important.." Maeko replied sighing, still glaring at Stefan. She turned to Masuyo and Shinta. "You guys alright?" Maeko asked summoning Titania, casting Diarama on them.

"Im good!" Masuyo said swaying back and forth. "So next room go?" he said

"Next room go." Maeko replied, nodding and smiling slightly. "Shinta, are you alright?"

"I will be when this is over." said Shinta heading for the door. After a deep breath he opened the door. In the next room Yuuichi and his shadow stared at the large chalkboard that took up the entire back wall. On the chalkboard were various scribbles of Shadows and Personas and notes about the TV World. Amidst all the information Yuuichi was awestruck, "This is..."

"Amazing, right?" asked the Shadow, "My big scoop. And I'm willing to let you have it."

"Really?" asked Yuuichi with bright eyes.

"Yup," said the Shadow before giving a devilish smirk, "for a price. Of course."

"Name it."

"Information for information. That sounds fair, doesn't it?" proposed the Shadow.

"Hm? What kind of information?"

"It's simple. All you have to do," the Shadow pointed to Shinta and the others, "is tell them who you really are. I'm sure they'd really like to know."

"What?" Yuuichi turned to the group in surprise, "You guys..."

"I was gonna ask that myself." Masuyo said. "WHO the fuck are you anyways?"

"It would be nice to know." Maeko added, lowering her harpoon to her side, placing her other hand on her hip.

"Like I said, I'm Yuuichi Tanamura," Yuuichi answered, "Editor-In-Chief of the Yasogami High Newspaper."

"He~h? That's all?" asked the shadow in a mocking tone, "That's not fair. After all you already know their secrets, so why shouldn't they know yours?"

"What are you talking about? I don't have any secrets." said Yuuichi hastily.

"Then tell us how you found out about us." demanded Shinta.

"I'm on the school paper, it's my job to follow stories." explained Yuuichi refusing to make eye contact.

"How pathetic. You'll go through everybody's dirty laundry, but when it comes to yourself it's all hush hush," said the shadow, "whatever happened to 'information should be free' or whatever you'd say to justify your sick hobby?"

"What? I-"

"But I understand. It's alright to be scared," the shadow said in a gentle tone, "Information is power after all. If they had anything on you they could use it against you. So you gotta keep your guard up at all times."

"Th-that's not true!"

"Isn't it? Then why act all mysterious and cryptic? Why not just let the whole world know about you? About us? That's my real big scoop: The Truth Behind Yuuichi Tanamura: Shadow Broker in the Fog."

"You can't be serious. How could you know anything about me? I just met you. Wait...who are you anyway?"

"You really can't tell? You don't see the resemblance? I'm you. And you're me."

"You're...me?" Yuuichi began to shudder.

"Shadow Broker?" Yomiko said. "Like......hes a shadow? Or a figurative "in the shadows" thing?"