Doki Doki Investigation Crew

Prologue

     Yu headed into class as usual. Despite the ongoing investigation he and his friends had taken upon themselves, he was doing surprisingly well in his classes, managing to take notes amid Sofue-sensei's ramblings about Egypt. The school day seemed to pass by uneventfully, but as he tried to leave, the student council president flagged him down and approached. Though he thought this unusual, he had no reason not to hear her out.
     "I'm very sorry, Narukami-kun! But I really need your help!"
     "That's not a problem. How can I help?" Though he was headed to Junes, Yu wasn't the kind of guy to turn down someone in need if he could. He was sure his friends would understand, in any case.
     "You see, the rest of the student council is busy tomorrow, and I really need help sorting through the details for the upcoming festival! I've heard you're very reliable, and you were the one most recommended to ask, though I understand if you're busy-"
     "Don't worry about it. I'll be there." Yu spoke with a small smile. He didn't mind helping out. Besides, he knew he would be too tired to do any more investigating, since they'd be heading into the TV world today.
     "Really? Thank you so much! Then meet me outside of the student council room after classes tomorrow." And with that, she had departed. Yu waved, then continued on his journey to the Junes food court. It didn't take him long to get there, and the investigation crew was already waiting for him.
     "There you are, man! What happened? Did ya get in trouble?" This was Yosuke, perhaps the greatest bro one could have. Of course, he was the one who suggested they meet at Junes since he also works there.
     "No, nothing like that. Student council's busy and the president needed some help, that's all."
     "That's good. We wouldn't want our leader to be under watch by the student council, now would we?" Naoto gave one of her rare sly remarks with a small smile as Yu took a seat at the round table. The "Detective Prince" was nearly always stoic and serious, but occasionally it seemed she'd let a joke or two slip. It was a good thing, though, to see her open up with the group. Yu could remember back before Naoto joined the team, when "he" was strictly business and refused their offers to hang out.
     "Yeah, no kidding! Well, if you won't be here tomorrow, guess we gotta make double progress today! Oh, I should get some steak before we go so I can go for longer today!" Chie was energetic as ever. Despite her words, though, Yu knew he could count on her to not get ahead of herself. Mostly, anyway.
     "Aw, you're gonna be busy tomorrow? I guess that means I'll have to stick closer to you today, senpai~!" Of course, Yu has expected Rise to say something like this. He didn't mind, though. He was glad to have the support of his friends through the thick and thin.
     "Well, it does make sense. You're probably the only person in the school who would willingly help with student council work." Yukiko had a point. Most people considered the student council to be too much work, and would rather do other things. But apart from just being willing to help, Yu also knew that the strength from his bonds enabled him to better wield the power of the Wild Card, and you never knew what might happen when you gave someone a hand.
     "Ooooh, sensei's getting one on one time with the student council president! What's she like?! Gimme the details! You'll have to tell me aaaaaaaall about it when you get back tomorrow!" And there was Teddie, the resident... well, they weren't quite sure WHAT he was. He just kinda appeared when they entered the TV world... and then one day he came out. But despite his rather eccentric behavior, he'd become a welcome member of the team. Yu really didn't know what they would do without him— and not just for the TV transport or the fog glasses.
"Yo, senpai, if you're done talking about tomorrow, let's get in there and train against some shadows! I'm itchin to get started!" Kanji's naturally lower voice stood out against most of the others. He stood out in many other ways, too, but none of those things made him any less part of the group. He was a reliable ally and a great friend. Yu knew he could trust him to stick with the team, and perhaps more importantly, to bash shadows. In response to his comment, Yu nodded.
"Alright, team. You know the drill. Let's get started for today."
With nods all around, the investigation crew headed into the electronics department to enter the TV world. It was always somewhat fun to pretend to browse TVs and look to see if anyone was watching so they could enter, almost like a game of red light green light. Usually, one person would enter at a time so that no one would be suspicious. Then again, how would you explain it if you did see it? But these thoughts weren't important, as they would be inconvenient to the plot.
Soon enough, the entire crew was inside and ready for action. Yu figured that the best place to train would be in the game world created by the person they had originally thought to be the killer, Mitsuo. Well, "created" made it sound like it was done intentionally. In actuality, it had been created for him the moment he entered the TV— as did all the victims of the kidnappings taking place around Inaba. When one entered the TV world without a Persona, their Shadow came into being and changed part of the TV world into something of a TV show set that, in a rather roundabout way, represented a repressed desire they had, and by denying it, their shadow would gain power and kill them. Of course, the Investigation Crew aimed to stop this, but while they were at it, they had begun to expand their circle of members as well. In fact, half of the group were victims of the kidnappings who had accepted their shadow and gained the power of Persona, and agreed to fight alongside them. The other half, though not kidnapped, had also accepted their shadows in similar form.
Yu looked at the familiar scenery of their "landing spot". To one side was a blue door he knew only he could see, which led to the Velvet Room. He considered entering, but suddenly felt like something wasn't right, as though the air had grown heavy in anticipation for something. "Is everyone okay?" he suddenly shouted.
Yosuke, who was right next to him, flinched and covered his ears. "What the— dude, we're fine! No need to yell! Agh, my ears..." But even as soon as the words had left his mouth, his eyes widened at the sight before him. "Whoa— guys?! What's going on?!"
What he saw was Chie, Yukiko, Rise and Naoto's bodies being pulled apart like they were cubes, almost pixel-like. Of course, even if they didn't see this, their various cries of agony were more than enough to compensate. Unfortunately, he wasn't getting much of an answer, other than the knowledge that it hurt a lot, apparently. And just like that, they were gone.
"Rise-chan! Chie-chan! Where'd they all go?!" Teddie floundered about in a panic as the remaining three boys looked on in shock.
"Naoto— Yukiko— where'd they go?!" Kanji threw the obvious question in the air, seemingly unaware that he and everything else was slowly fading to grey, and all sounds were slowly drowning out. Whatever this was...

.

. .

. . .

Yu awoke one a familiar blue car. Well, limousine. But something was different. It looked as though everything was periodically interrupted by static, both in sight and sound.
"There you are. We don't have much time." Despite the urgency in her voice, Margaret sounded as soothing to listen to as ever. "Please listen to what my master has to say." Of course, as was usual in the Velvet Room, there was no time for small talk. Igor began to speak almost as soon as Margaret had closed her mouth.
"Greetings, my guest! It seems that your journey has taken a rather unusual turn, hasn't it? All of your friends have vanished, but fear not, for all of this will be but a bad dream in a very short time. And yet, I cannot see down your path any further than this very moment! I cannot tell you whom, or how, but the most I can say is that someone has tampered with the oath your journey would take. Surely, this will test the strength of your bonds sooner than you had anticipated. You've been quite the fascinating guest— I wonder how you will overcome the challenges you will face?"
Cryptic as always, but if Igor had been about to say any more, Yu would never know, because the world suddenly faded to black.