The God Slayer of Inaba 20

It was finally time to enter the TV once again.

The group walked down to the electronics department, mindful of the customers that had gathered, at least it wasn't as bad as it could've been if they had been doing this during Golden Week… not only did they have more time to get everything done but there were also fewer customers.

It didn't take long at all to reach the TV and quickly look around to see if there was anyone that could watch them enter the screen.

"All right, it's clear, let's go," he found himself saying as he touched the black surface and felt himself once again getting pulled into the world of people's hearts.

"Wha?!" he found himself sharing the same sentiment that Chie was as he felt something happening, felt himself being veered off course as his instincts plunged into overdrive.

He didn't know what was happening as he felt his heart start to race, his mind becoming more focused and his muscles twitching as he was thrown into another world that he was so familiar with as the world turned black.

|

|

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," those five words were spoken in a manner that made him jerk awake once again, this time noting that he was sitting in a familiar, sapphire limousine.

It was definitely the Velvet Room.

Of that there was no doubt.

He had dreamed of this place over the past couple of months but it had always been dreams of his previous times in the room, of his interactions with Igor and his assistant, the beautiful woman named Margaret.

But he knew that this time was different.

"Huh? It's not a dream this time?" he muttered as he looked towards the lone figure of the woman he had spent so long speaking to in this very room, "what's going on? Didn't my contract end already?"

Honestly he was surprised to see that Igor was not present but then again, this room represented the fate of the person visiting it so clearly Igor was no longer needed to guide him.

"This room is tied to your fate… nothing that occurs here is meaningless," she stated easily, "though you reached an end to one journey, you now find yourself here again… this shows that you will once again be faced with a question."

"I see," he had thought as much, honestly he had missed this room almost as much as he missed his other friends.

But that didn't change the fact that his presence here meant something was happening.

"From here on, what befalls you will upset your status quo…" Margaret spoke calmly, but he was expecting that, "it is true that you have opened the door once already, but all things change, nothing ever remains the same… what you have gained before will change over time as well, you will have to face them once again."

He knew that she wouldn't explain it to him in layman's terms, part of the Velvet Rooms own rules was the cryptic clues that could help the guests… but they never told the full story.

In the end though, there was only so much he could do and he wouldn't let this conversation injure his resolve to do whatever was necessary.

"Show me how you will proceed down the path that awaits beyond the door you have opened…" she said with a warm smile that she rarely offered at the start of the previous year.

"I will," he found himself saying as his vision began to waver… he just hoped he would get another chance to speak with the occupants of the room.

After all, he had a feeling he would be needing their help as a Campione if he was to have a good chance of emerging victorious against his enemies.

|

|

He woke up without much difficulty before looking around the area he found himself in.

It looked like the Yasogami High music room but that wasn't right, he was supposed to be inside the TV so how was he in a place like this? He should at the very least be at the entrance.

What caught him even more off guard though was the lack of his friends presence next to him.

They had all entered together from the usual spot but they had somehow been thrown off course and separated.

To put it simply, this wasn't good.

"This has never happened before," he muttered to himself as he focused on the facts he knew.

"Helloooo! Sorry for the wait!" the voice of Rise called out from the speaker system, "greetings, boys and girls of Yasogami! The P-1 Grand Prix is about to begin! There's no need for manners or courtesy or anything today, so let it all hang out! Tell us how you really feel!"

"What the?!" Yū couldn't stop himself from feeling his blood run cold. This person that was speaking over the PA system sounded like Rise but he knew it wasn't… Rise never had such an underlying sense of viciousness about her, it almost sounded sadistic and that told him that it was clearly a fake.

" Ahe-he-hem! May I have your attention please!" the voice called out again, sounding a little more like Rise but still having a cruelness that never existed in the real thing running just under its words, "I Risette, will be your commentator! But first, the General has a few words for you all!"

General? He found himself growing even more nervous as he looked at the crowd surrounding him… no, that wasn't a crowd of people, that was a crowd of facsimiles shaped like people but with no definition… they were clearly shadows… but why weren't they attacking him?

"Heeheehee… you're all here now," a television in the corner of the room turned on, revealing Teddie in a strange cape and a hat that looked like it was straight off a movie Nazi, "well then! I'm proud to announce the opening of our bear-y own P-1 Grand Prix!"

"Who are you?" he asked the stranger that was taking the form of Teddie, there was no way Teddie would hold a tournament and give the girls such degrading nicknames after all.

"What do you mean, Sensei? Have you forgotten Teddie so soon?" the stranger asked with a smirk.

"Quit trying to screw with me," he stated firmly, "I know my friends and you are making far too many mistakes to trick me into believing you're one of them."

It was clear that his statement got to the imposter if the twitch was anything to go by.

"Well, if that's how you feel, then I think it's time to kick pleasantries out the window and get to the first round!" the fake Teddie called out with underlying anger in its tone, that was good, it was clear that it wasn't expecting him to see through its ruse so quickly… then again, he'd have been surprised if anyone had fallen for it, "would the next challenger come on down!"

The fake Teddie looked away and made a dismissive gesture as the room was filled with smoke that blocked out visibility.

Yū put his guard up just in case something attacked from within the cloud of white.

However the result was not what he was expecting when the smokescreen cleared away.

"Yosuke?" he said with both confusion and relief before noting what the "advert" had been about and coming up with a single conclusion, "great… they're expecting you and me to fight."

"Heh… looks like it, sheeh, what's this guy thinking?" the Magician Arcana said with amusement.

"Grrr… starting that up already? I won't let you get all buddy-buddy with each other!" the bear on the screen said with clear irritation in his tone, "these battles are fought to the death! Only the victor can proceed!"

"Do you honestly think we'll listen to you?" he asked while using his acting practice to make his tone as condescending as possible before looking over to Yosuke.

"Wait! What did you just say?" he found himself frowning at the other boy's response.

"Yosuke?" he didn't understand what was going on, he didn't say anything strange just then… did he?

"Wha? Hey! That isn't the time to bring that up you jerk!" his eyes widened as Yosuke began to speak about more things that didn't make sense.

"No…" he immediately came to a single conclusion as to what could be going on.

Yosuke was trapped in some form of illusion and seeing something that was making him lash out a little.

"Dammit partner! What the hell's gotten into you?!" the brown haired boy shouted angrily before pulling out his kunai.

"Dammit, you bastard! What did you do to Yosuke?!" he shouted hoping to get some form of response as he pulled out the sword he had managed to find in the TV world near the end of the previous year,

"Huh? All that talk and you're gonna fight against your partner anyway?" the fake Rise called out over the TV, further angering him as he noted how they perfectly captured her face, "well, whatever! Let's hurry up and get this started! Ready!"

And with that, he knew that he had no choice but to fight his first comrade and end this charade.

At least he knew that whatever happened after this, Yosuke would forgive him.

That was the strength of their bond after all.