The Passive Ponderer (Hikaru's Awakening)

Hikaru had been waiting for the day when his Shadow would come for him; it was at the forefront of his mind. He didn't know what to expect, whether to be spirited away during the day or be suffocated as he slept. He only knew that when the day came, he'd hoped to be ready.

He could never have expected this.

For a moment, he was wandering the beaches of Penecia, feeling the sand between his toes and listening to the jingling of the bell Akumu had left for him. Before he coud realize what had happened, Hikaru suddenly found that darkness had filled his vision. He could feel his body collapse, but the sound of it hitting the floor was never heard. Instead, Hikaru found himself not collapsed in the sandy shores, but in the street of a city.

Buildings were crumbled, the materials lying in disorganized piles. Nothing was left standing in one piece. Hikaru looked around in confusion and concern until a solitary thought entered his mind.

"Is this... the other world? Alex said I'd find myself in an unfamiliar world, but I can't help but feel like this place is familiar..."

In the background of the demolished city, loud blasts could be heard echoing through the air. Hikaru's skin began to crawl; if this was truly some other world, who was causing those blasts? What types of strange creatures lived here? They must have been strong enough to tear the city apart, but they were Hikaru's only way to find out where he was.

Hikaru mustered the courage to take his first steps forward, looking for a vantage point. He wandered the streets, climbing over the plies of debris that littered his path. It was only through walking did he realize something else about the area; the buildup of fog. He'd only just realized that the fog was beginning to obscure his vision, as he could now only make out the towering and torn structures that once made up a city. The sound of explosions was growing closer, but Hikaru was determined to find his answer.

Suddenly, a thought sprung to his mind; Alex had promised to come find him and protect him from his Shadow. His skin began to crawl. He had almost forgotten that this Shadow was still on the hunt for him! He needed Alex to find him, but he was also afraid of luring the Shadow out to him.
Against his better judgement, he cupped his hands and shouted to the sky.

"HELLO? ANYBODY? ALEX? HELLLLLLLLP!!"

With no visible response to his cry, Hikaru continued his journey through the streets, having to cover his ears for a moment as the blasts only rang louder in his ears. Whatever was going on, Hikaru felt that he needed to see what was going on and hopefully find a way to escape.

As he walked, a figure emerged from the growing fog, walking in Hikaru's direction. Hikaru kept his fists clenched, uncertain of who was approaching him, and slowly proceeded forward.

And stopped dead in his tracks, just as the figure had done. The two were close enough that they could see each other with enough clarity. It was like looking at a mirror; the man had the same sandy brown hair sprouting out of his brown beanie cap, the same blue plaid jacket over a gray undershirt with something hanging around his neck, and even the same grey trousers as Hikaru was wearing. Neither one of them had a messenger bag, though. Hikaru couldn't clearly make out the color of his eyes, but he still knew something was amiss; here was a man that perfectly mimicked Hikaru's every feature. Hikaru instinctively tried to back away...

... but was stopped when an immense pain jolted through his body. It felt like every muscle in his body was suddenly electrified. Out of his wincing eyes, Hikaru could see that his doppelganger was doing the same, tumbling to his knees from the pain he was in. Hikaru similarly fell onto his knees, using his arms to keep him up before they gave way, leaving Hikaru to almost slam his face into the pavement. The doppelganger spoke in broken sentences as he tried to regain his composure, and Hikaru replied similarly.

"You... tell me. I just woke up here. I... must've passed out or something. And... *huff**huff* what do you mean... other one? Who... Who are you? Why... are you ripping off my look?"

Hikaru propped himself up on his hands and stared at the man, readying himself to bolt at any time.

Hikaru gritted his teeth at the imposter's comments.
"Crybaby?! Unng... liar?! Who in the world are- Uh oh..."
It clicked in Hikaru's mind when his imposter spoke about killing him and replacing him, but something seemed different. It was definitely his Shadow, but he didn't seem very intimidating or prepared. Both of them were doubled over in pain, struggling to get up. Hikaru attempted to slowly shift away from the Shadow.
"You're... my Shadow, aren't you? That sinister fiend that tries to kill me? Well, lemme just say... your planning is pretty terrible."

As Hikaru struggled to scamper away from the Shadow, it began to follow him, slowly chasing him down like a fox cornering a hare. Hikaru kept moving, trying to pull himself to his legs only to feel the knot in his stomach tighten and forced him to drop again. The Shadow suddenly fell flat on his stomach, as if held down by the fog itself. It ridiculed him, taunting him with insults on his personality and go-with-the-flow attitude. Hikaru found himself glaring at the Shadow with anger and frustration. As he spoke, he felt his rage build up inside of him.

"Can't take things seriously, eh? Swallow everything I'm told, eh? Oh, please! You don't the first thing about me! I've put up with quite enough in my life, but you... you are just pushing my limits. You think you can just call me an idiot?! A crybaby?! Well, you'd better have a pretty damn good reason for calling me that!You're just a doppelganger! You don't understand who I am... What I've put up with... You are nothing like me! Now leave-"

Suddenly, the fog had begun to gather in a higher density, making visibility even slimmer. The place where the doppelganger laid was obscured from Hikaru, visible only as a black silhouette against the foggy white background.

The shadow seemed to contort in pain, but that wasn't the worst of it. Hikaru watched in horror and confusion as the shadow seemed to stretch, expand, form shapes, and bend in a variety of frightening and unnatural ways. Hikaru continued to back away, his eyes filled with fear at the frightening image before him. He found himself shouting without realizing what he said.

"Oh gods... No... No no no no. Someone! Anyone! Help me! AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

The only sound Alexander could hear besides his breathing and the sound of the plastic, or whatever material it was, that the wheels of the he was currently using were made of. As far as he was concerned, it was a piece of wood on tiny wheels. He couldn't help but cough as dust swirled around him from the rubble of the surrounding 'buildings'.

"Please tell me this is the right place." he muttered to himself as he continued through the parallel version of Penecia. He remembered what had happened after he had bought the skateboard he was using. He had practically chucked his money at the shopkeeper, grabbed the skateboard and then dashed of before riding before the street... for a few minuets. He rode over a rock at as high a speed he could go and he was sent flying. He had even hit a tree at full force, causing blood to drip from his mouth. The sound of yet another blast brought him back to reality as he wiped the blood from his mouth.

He gulped as the blasts seemed to be getting closer. He then looked around him, paying no attention to the road he was riding down. Just as he looked back at the road, he realized he was headed straight towards a massive piece of rubble shaped quite similarly to a ramp. As he went flying into the air he could make out the shape of two people that looked somewhat similar. As he landed, he began to run towards them before skidding to a halt between the two.

As he then stood up straight he looked in the direction of the shadow, who by now had transformed into its 'true self', and he sighed "I see I got here in the nick of time. Hikaru, don't worry, I'll take care of this bastard." As he pulled out his Persona Compendium and chuckled to himself. He turned to face Hikaru's shadow properly before saying "I don't care what kind of bullshit you have been spouting, I'll take you down just the same as I would do with any other shadow. The reason for this...is because even the very sight of a person's shadow is enough to make my blood boil. Not because you are on the side of Nyarlathotep, not because you pick on those who can't fight you...but because you use the face of the human you, you claim to be the true self.... and then you go and act as a version of them that has their emotions going haywire..." He then gulped, due to the fact he had never actually been in battle before... but that didn't matter now, Hikaru was in danger. "So, 'Hikaru', come at me!"

After he got the message, Kazuya rushed from San Malarus to Penecia in order to save Hikaru. After the parasite then this? Whatever, someone is in need of help and Kazuya will do it. He was tired from running as he have no means of transportation and he is dumb enough not to take a cab due to panic but he did take a train, it was the only transportation to the other islands after all. As the train reached Penecia, he again ran and ran as fast as he can then entered the nearby portal. Kazuya was sure it's this place since Penecia was written in the message.

As he entered the portal, there he is and he is not alone. Despite Hikaru and his shadow, there is an another person. Perhaps, he got the message too and he will save him as well so that means he is Hikaru's friend as well. So he approached that person and talked to him. "Hey, mind if I help?" he asked the obvious and then summoned his tarot card. "PERSONA!" Kazuya shouted as he crushed the tarot card with his bare hands. A blue mist appeared in front of Kazuya and it reveals a legendary bird named 'Gryphon'. "Ok! let's do this!"

Mae got the text early that morning. Someone was in danger of dying to their shadow self, just like herself. So she quickly put on her shoes and jacket, and proceeded to leave Charles apartment, running as fast as she could. // Please don't be dead already. I'm coming! // Mae thought to herself as she pushed herself through the crowds and left San Malarus. Well on the train station, Mae sent a text message to Quinn Ayers, a friend of hers she knew lived both in Penecia and had a persona. In the message, Mae told Quinn everything she needed to know, and a meetingplace. Just outside Edogawa Sushi. She had seen a couple of rifts nearby there when she was there with Hyde a couple of weeks back, and it was a place she would instantly recognize herself.

"Hi Quinn! You ready?" She asked, gesturing towards the glowing rift in the alleyway next to the resturant. "I'm glad you could make it. Now, whatever's in there is going to be strong, so support me and any others aiding me, okay?" She awaited Quinn's confirmation before entering the rift into Alternate Penecia.

The ruined city of Alternate Penecia took Mae by complete suprise. Pieces of concrete, twisted and bent streetlights covered the streets. "What the...?" the pinkette stuttered out. "Quinn? You see this? What on earth has happened here...?" She looked around. Not a soul in sight... She walked forward cautiously, summoning her soulbound weapon. "Quinn... You sense anyone?"

A black car would pull up to the designated meeting spot, stopping for a moment and allowing them to step out before it drove off. After waiting for a minute or two, they were greeted by Mae who didn't waste any time entering the strange portal. This was the first time they had entered this world so it took them a minute to take in the sights before snapping back to Mae who had summoned her weapon. "Oh! Can I do that?!" They'd think of a weapon, only to have their parasol appear in their hands. Their face would be one of extreme disappointment. "Lame. I couldn't get a cool weapon to make up for my totally un-cool persona." They'd laugh before trying to focus on what Mae had asked, taking their Evoker out of it's holster. They had chosen pants since a skirt wasn't the best for combat, but the holster felt strange against the material.

Pointing the evoker to their temple, pulling the trigger as their persona began to fade into existence. They felt a bit weightless as their body was lifted up in the air, only to land on top of their persona's gears. Closing their eyes, they began to focus on anything that could help. 'There is something up ahead... Two- No! Three people? More like two people and something else...' They'd open their eyes, projecting their thoughts to Mae through Genovfa. 'I'll stay here and provide support as best as I can. Wouldn't want to be too caught up in the crossfire. Don't worry though, I'll pull you outa there if anything goes wrong.'

Hikaru continued to crawl on his hands and knees away from the monstrous Shadow, hoping that the fog was deep enough to let him slip by undetected. The creature seemed to be lumbering after him. The pain was starting to fade, but that knot in his stomach was still present. He thought he was done for, with nobody there to save him.

He was certainly glad he was wrong. Out of the corner of his eye, Hikaru could scarcely make out a figure ramping off a large piece of building and stopping between him and his Shadow. The hue of the blue hoodie easily confirmed who it was.

"A-Alex?! Boy, am I glad to see you. C-can you really be it? It's... pretty strong, and I don't want anything bad to- what the?"

Hikaru was interrupted by another person running into the thinning fog. It was Kazuya, no doubt. Hikaru stared in disbelief as Kazuya ran up to Alex and offered to help. Hikaru was confused for a moment; if normal weapons couldn't injure the Shadow, what could? Hikaru would soon find his answer; a glowing tarot card appeared at Kazuya's fingertips, and he smashed it without a moment of hesitation. A blue mist grew in front of Kazuya and was quickly replaced by a large gryphon with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. Hikaru skittered back a bit in fear of the creature

"Kazuya? W-what's that?! How did you... do that? I-is it friendly?"

As the fog began to clear out, exposing the Shadow's true form, Hikaru could see two more people running in his direction, and by the red of a certain girl's hair and the outfit of another familiar friend, Hikaru could identify them immediately.

"Mae?! Quinny?! H-how are you here? Are... are you here to save me? Oh, thank the gods."

(2 days has passed skipping the attendant)

"No time for chit-chat, we'll explain later" he replied to Hikaru as he summoned his soulbound weapon. He looked at the other guys and said "Let's do this!" and commanded Gryphon to strengthen his attacks. Gryphon just soared giving Kazuya an aura that makes him feel stronger. Now, he is prepared.

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