Chase The Truth

Chapter 24: Save the Idol

Begin!

~Normal POV

6/25 - Saturday

Once again, Teddie requested more info about Rise before he could track her location. Yu was starting to think that bear was losing his edge. He'd been getting less and less helpful lately. Even as their navigator, he was subpar at best. (And that was being generous.) But with some help from Rise's grandma, a local fan, and a member of the paparazzi, Yu was able to gather enough info. Upon jumping back into the tv world today, Teddie led them to the correct spot. When they arrived, at first they didn't know what to think. It was dark, and the most they could see, even with their special glasses, was the soft carpet they were standing on.

"Here we are!" Teddie exclaimed, proudly.

"What is this place...?" Chie asked. "It's all dark..."

As if the place responded to her command, the lights turned on. The entrance looked sort of like a nightclub stage; covered in purple and pink curtains. Around them were booths and tables. On the ceiling were some colorful spotlights. And the "doorway" on the stage was lined with colorful neon lights. Given that they were a group of teenagers, it didn't take them very long to realize what this place was supposed to be. Even Chie and Yukiko weren't blind to the obvious. (Though, none of them would ever have been let into such a place in reality.)

"Whoa..." Chie said, looking around curiously. "Is this a...?"

Yosuke smirked knowingly. "Ohh! Like the kind you always find in resort towns?!"

"Ah, I think you're right," Yukiko replied. "...Oh, but we don't have one! Our inn is not like that!"

"Huh, so this is a strip joint, eh?" Kanji said, "Damn, if my mom finds out I walked into a place like this, she'd kill me..."

Teddie gave him a quizzical look. "Strip?!" Everyone looked at him worriedly, thinking he was about to ask some difficult to answer questions about the human world again. "Aha!" He said, brightly. "I know what that is! It's the thing zebras have, right?!"

They all gave him side-eyed glances of annoyance at his lame joke.

"It's so bright here... even with the glasses on, my eyes hurt," Yukiko commented.

"Doesn't anyone get the joke?!" Teddie whined. "Ok, let's try one more-"

"Ted, shut up," Yu interrupted, bluntly. Once he had everyone's attention he added. "Let's go..."

"Hang in there, Rise, we'll get you outta here in no time..." Yu thought, as they went inside.

~...

It must have been about two floors in before they found Rise's Shadow in person. The overwhelming pink everywhere kinda hurt to look at, after a while. They found the Shadow in an open room full of pillars. She took their presence rather well. And in person, she was just as creepy as she was on the Midnight Channel. That smile looked playful and sweet, but those glowing yellow eyes... they burned right into your soul. And just from looking at her like this, it was hard to tell what Rise's problem was that made her Shadow go crazy like this.

"It's Rise!"

"Her Shadow- remember?" Yu replied.

The Shadow stared at them in her disturbing way, and addressed them in an upbeat, cheerful tone. "Hello, all you fans out there! Thanks for coming today! Today, you're gonna see every last inch of me! What's that? You don't believe me?" She giggled. "Ok, ok! Then why don't we- oh, but you won't be able to see with all this smoke, huh? Okie-dokie!" She dropped her cheerful tone for a softer one, with her eyes lowered a bit. "Just follow me a little further in, and I'll prove that I'm every bit as good as my word!"