Ying Hao woke up laying on the floor, in casual wear. "Uh...?"

He glanced around. The surroundings seemed very strange. Ying Hao was no longer in his living room, in front of his PC. He is now at the wide bridge of a futuristic space station, the edges of the room enveloped in a very light mist. Outside he can see the usual starry space, except with an addition of several half-destroyed planets.

"Oh damn, this can't be the Mayonaka TV, can it?" Fear began to well up in himself as he adjusted his glasses.

"Not necessarily, it can always be Mayonaka PC." A voice boomed from behind all of the sudden.

Ying Hao turned around and saw face-to-face with another Ying Hao, and stepped back in shock. "Any idea is possible, am I right?" said his doppelganger with gleaming, yellow eyes and a wicked look on his face.

Another Ying Hao?: First thing first, you will have to know that this silly self-insert semi-fanfiction will be laced with fourth wall breaking and self-reference. Lots of it. So much until the readers won't know what you're talking about.

Ying Hao: Woah, since when we switched to dialogue speech form!?

Another Ying Hao?: Any idea is possible.

Ying Hao: Oh shut up, that's my line.

Another Ying Hao?: What are you talking about? I'm you, and you're me.

Ying Hao: Wut?

Another Ying Hao?: Since you know the Persona 4 game, you definitely know me to be your Shadow. But enough with the introduction. Let's start some mental torture.

Ying Hao: Oh yeah? Then take this!

He ran towards his dark clone with the aim of landing his right fist on its face, but it quickly dodged and counterattacked with painful punch in the stomach. Ying Hao fell.

Shadow Ying Hao: Look at you. You make such poor effort at fighting.

Ying Hao: Argh...

Shadow Ying Hao: In fact, you make poor effort at everything you do. Very simply, you're a lazy ass with no hope.

Ying Hao: Pain... crazy strong...

Shadow Ying Hao: Not only you're lazy, but you're dependant on others, because you can't do nuts without them.

Ying Hao: No, I'm not.

"Admit it," Shadow Ying Hao walked forward and kicked the real Ying Hao down. Stepping on himself literally, he continued, "Do I have to explain it clearer? You know it yourself. Look at this space station that reflects your inner self: it's your own design, but space stations are built by groups of people, who happened not to be you."

Ying Hao is being pinned down by his unusually strong foot. "All your life you have only been lucky," the shadow clone sneered, "but still, you live in fear. I know why you don't put effort in your work." With the pain still lingering, Ying Hao answered back, "What are you trying to say?"

Shadow Ying Hao, sporting a confident know-it-all look on his face, pointed a finger at Ying Hao, "That's because you're afraid of FAILING! Aww, what if I fail when I put in some effort? Won't it be wasted?" Shadow Ying Hao pranced around like a joker, and Ying Hao freed himself and moved away. "But wait, I've got a genius idea! If I do everything without too much effort yet try to make them LOOK good, I'll pass! Right, that's what a lazy bugger like you would go for. The easy way out."

"That's not true, you stupid clone." Ying Hao retorted. "I spent countless hours studying stuff on my own! Who said that's not effort? Whoever thought me my 2D and 3D skills, you? No one in the family is even an artist!"

"Then you got comfortable and stop improving your 3D skills, hah! You think you're good? You don't even have a decent 3D movie short! You gave up on it, just like you gave up on your relationships. Pathetic quitter, you."

Ying Hao shook his head, "No, no."

"Heheheh... look at your personal art projects. None of them are even halfway complete. You quit easy, sometimes on fear, sometimes in laziness, but no matter, either way makes you an epic failure."

Ying Hao cupped his ears. "God, you're annoying like them in the game!"

"You haven't even played the game, you wannabe. Thought those Youtube videos showed you enough, huh." Shadow Ying Hao started to have a slight aura of darkness. "Failure in life will be inevitable, Ying Hao. How ironic, in the end you become what you fear. Don't deny it; I'm you, and you're me. I know you inside out."

A tiny voice inside Ying Hao told him not to say it, but he said it anyway. "No way you're me! Especially not with that attitude of yours!"

"I was waiting for you to pull off the "rejection of self"... HAHAHAHAHA!!"

Dark aura burst out of the shadowy doppelganger. Its body twisted and turned, growing new arms and morphed into a horribly misfigured and monstrous form. It sprouted new arms that held a different tool each: a pencil, a computer mouse, a guitar, a toy keyboard, a PS2 controller, a computer keyboard. The lower body is a pile of interlocking gears that moved randomly.

"Oh damn." Ying Hao stepped back, and regretted his slip of tongue. It happened exactly just like in the game.


"Fear not! We will defeat this shadow creature."


As Ying Hao was wondering who that voice was, a blue aura flowed under his feet, with five figures appearing from above. "Sandcastle, Cloudcastle, Invisitus, Imperfectus, Invictus, ready for battle." He raised an eyebrow, knowing them to be fictional alter egos he made up years ago.

Enhanced Shadow Ying Hao: Oh look, it's that quirky Power Rangers group in your imaginations. Good, I'll just kill all of you together.

So the battle started and lots of words and attacks spewed from the mutated doppelganger...

"Go on, sulk all you like. You can also start by toasting yourself with your own emo-destroying ion-cannon. Hypocrite."

"Self-depreciating and self-referential, what are you even thinking? Ego much?"

"Don't delude yourself any longer! You're never resolute in your decisions. You will lose everything you have."

"Waste all your time on the internet, waste your life away. The only good effort you're making now is at wasting time and life."

"Time is short! Ain't that a fearful line?"

The battle became intense as the five alter egos upped their attacks. The shadow clone is being weakened more and more by attacks. His voice boomed out more bitterly.

"You only have fanciful dreams that is never coupled with solid actions. Why bother!"

"Hmph... your job won't go far, since you don't even buck up at all. Lotus eater machine with comfort zone mode set to maximum, that's what it is."

"Stupid lazy geek... why don't you just quit your job and stay home. Then you will have all the time you complained you didn't have!"

Soon the magical quintet landed a mighty combo attack on Shadow Ying Hao, and it blew up in a large explosion. When the smoke cleared, it could be seen as being reduced to his previous human form. Ying Hao walked towards it calmly.

"I've thought over it," Ying Hao told the shadow, "You do made sense. Sometimes I really just live the days carefreely, not thinking of these issues. I haven't fixed these flaws of mine yet." Ying Hao extended a hand out to his downed clone. "But, I'm going to live my life to change and improve till the day I die."

Surprised, Shadow Ying Hao accepted the hand and stood up. It is silent in anticipation of more words from Ying Hao.

"I actually have to thank you for your words. You pointed out all of them. I doubt this semi-fanfiction would exist in the first place without your words. Oh, of course as the game go... since you know me so well, you're definitely me. I'm definitely you. Please return to me."

Shadow Ying Hao nodded. Pure light sparkled around it, and it then transformed into a new majestic form, floating in the air. Behind him, the five alter egos flew forward and merged to become parts of this new alter ego... or Persona, as it seemed to tell others by its looks. Ying Hao smiled as he knew his ex-shadow has become his ally.

"Here I come, life."

-----

"Hey, what are you typing?"

"Oh, just a little story."

"Wah, quite long ah."

"Yaloh."

"Your future story? Making game?"

"Not with this one. It's kinda personal."

"Hah?"

"Never mind."