Alright, next! (In Ken's voice)
This time, in the Velvet Room, Margaret makes a reference to Minato from P3. Really, it's a nitpick I have, and that's because I was playing P3P, and I wanted to fuse some Personas but first I had to get rid of some, so I did, and I had to buy them back later, because the only ones I could dismiss were the ones I used in battle, due to the fact that if I got rid of the others, I wouldn't be doing anything useful, because I needed those Personas to fuse the one I wanted. That was a really annoyance while getting that dang Persona. I think it was Kohryu I was trying to get when I ran into that problem. It's small, but really obnoxious.
I'm done with Chapter 12 at this point, so I have decided to upload this a bit earlier than I had expected, as a chapter for a chapter rule seems fair to me. The sooner I get the next one out, the better in most cases, right?
Chapter 4
After arriving home, Yu removed his shoes and hat. Nanako greeted him happily as she set up dinner; making Yu realized just how later he had been out. That night Dojima couldn't come home for dinner, only arriving a couple hours afterwards. Yu went upstairs after Dojima returned, working on his translating job for about 45 minutes, and spending another 30 on the model. By the time he was done with that, it was getting late, so he decided to turn in for the night.
(Velvet Room)
"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor greeted him. Yu had been summoned to the limo known as the Velvet Room once before, on the train to Inaba to be warned about an impending danger. Yu hadn't quite believed him until he had grown the ears and went into the TV for the third time.
"I see that you have acquired your powers." Margaret spoke after Igor finished saying that he was really asleep. "The thing that you should know is that your Personas will get stronger the more and stronger your bonds with people become." Yu thought it sounded a bit ridiculous, choosing an anti-social kid to bond with others. "Another thing is that you have the ability of the Wild Card. It allows you to wield multiple Personas. We offer you a service that allows you to fuse the Personas that you gain along your journey."
"Yes," Igor started his part of a seemingly well-planned out speech. "You can only have so many Personas with you at a given time, however. We are sorry for the inconvenience, but it would be better for you not to be swamped by the almost alarming amount of Personas that are available to you."
"Our friend Marie," Margaret said, looking over at an unoccupied spot, "Is off for a moment today, but tomorrow, she will be back, and she will allow you to manage your Personas that you have, swapping the ones in use. The previous visitor to this room complained to us that he had to fuse or dismiss Persona's to get ones that he wanted for fusion, then he had to buy them back, and he found that rather annoying. However, my sister gained quite a bit of money from that process. The visitor was not amused."
Igor's already smiling face smiled some more. "Tomorrow, we will give you another long speech about another power that you have. It relates to the Demon Powers."
Before Yu could ask about the strange powers that he had, he was thrust out of the Velvet Room, waking up in the real world, with his alarm beeping at him to wake the hell up.
(Saturday) (24th)
At school, Yosuke was looking nervous, pacing around, when Yu walked into the room, wearing a hat that looked to Yu like it had a slight bulge at two points on the top. When Yosuke saw him, he walked forward, dragging him into the bathroom. When Yosuke was sure no one was inside the bathroom, he ripped the hat, revealing that Yosuke had the same cat-like ears, only a pretty orange and green tie-dye.
"What am I going to do?" Yosuke asked him.
"OK, calm down, first off, do not take off the hat, later we will go to Junes, and get a hat that won't bulge from the ears. Second, do you have a tail?" Yu asked him. Yosuke looked confused, but slowly, a tail appeared from behind him, same as Yu's, and it had the same pattern as his ears. "OK then, what works for me is wrapping it around my waist. I think that anyone who sees it thinks that it's just a furry belt, so I don't complain. At lunch, follow my lead and I will get someone who knows about my ears."
Yosuke nodded, saying, "I'm counting on you to help me," and put his hat back on, wrapping his tail around his waist, though taking the care to pull his shirt over it as they walked back out the bathroom. Before Yu could take a step, time seemed to freeze as he was informed that he had formed a Social Link with Yosuke, now getting a boost when creating Magician Persona.
The two got any earful from King Moron about wearing hats in class, which Yu was used to already, but he didn't make them take them off. The rest of the teachers also gave them a bit of a lecture about not looking like they cared while wearing the hats, but also didn't require them to remove the covers.
As soon as the bell rung for lunch, Yu was walking out the door with Yosuke following not far behind. At the bottom floor, Yu walked up to Naoto. "We have a problem." He stated simply.
Naoto looked at Yosuke, noticing the hat, and the slight bulge. "Don't tell me…" Yu nodded, and she sighed, before dragging them outside. "Let's see them." She told Yosuke, looking around to make sure no one could see. Yosuke sighed and removed the hat. Naoto stared at them for a second, before sighing and removing her hat, resting it on his head. "Your hat shows off the fact that the ears exist. I want my hat back by the end of the day, but for now, wear it."
She told out her phone, Yu seeing over her shoulder that she was calling his uncle. After a minute, she came back, telling Yosuke that they would get him a hat later, and return to the Dojima residence afterwards.
(A couple hours later…)
The three had bought Yosuke a hat that was like Yu's, only with a color scheme that matched his ears. For a while on the way to Yu's home, they debated on telling his parents. Yosuke told them that if it was necessary, he would tell his parents about his ears and tail, but would otherwise keep them a secret.
After entering the house, Nanako just about demanded to see the ears, at which point Yosuke removed his hat, and allowed Nanako to play with his tail. Dojima examined the ears, reaching the same conclusion as with Yu. He had no clue where they came from, or how they attached themselves to his head.
Finding that they would gain nothing from the new case of demon ears, the group all sat down for some dinner. It was quiet lively, as there were five people instead of three. While eating, the news was on; talking about a murder. The victim had just appeared dead in an alleyway a week or so ago. While they didn't say who was dead, Dojima and Naoto revealed it was Ms. Yamano, a local reporter. After that, it jumped to an interview with Yukiko. She wasn't the happiest with the whole thing.
After they had finished, Yosuke gave Yu his cell number, then he and Naoto went home, returning the house to its more peaceful state. Yu retreated to his room after finding out that it was raining, calling Yosuke to confirm that he would watch as well. After getting off the phone, Yu realized that he had another couple hours, so he sat down, and at the beginning of 10 o'clock, Yu finished the model that the man had requested him to do. 30 minutes before 11, he finished the section of translating he had been given upon accepting the job. 5 minutes before the Midnight Channel was to come on, Yu stopped working on origami cranes, glad that the time was almost upon him, as otherwise, he would have run out of paper. He had about 2 large crates worth of the things.
Yosuke called him up to make sure that he was awake, and then hung up, agreeing to call if something interesting came on. What did come on was far past 'interesting.' Yukiko had appeared, proclaiming that she would 'score herself a hot stud,' before running off into a castle. Yosuke called Yu barley a second after the TV turned back off. He decided to call Chie after remembering that he didn't possess Yukiko's number, and agreeing to meet with Yu at Junes the next day. (Sunday)
(The Velvet Room)
"Welcome once again to the Velvet Room." Igor greeted his with his still smiling face, his mouth seemingly unmoving.
"As my master said yesterday, tonight, we will tell you about your Demon Powers." Margaret informed him.
"Strangely, it appears that several Arcana have been locked away for you." Igor continued the speech, once again seemingly well-planned. "Those of the Devil, Death, Hanged Man, Jester, and Moon Arcanas have strangely become unusable in your current form. If you form bonds with the people that will allow the fusions of those Personas, you can still fuse them, but they will occupy a different part of you."
"Marie can explain them more in depth, if she is in the mood, and when she returns, but basically, you can only use Personas of those Arcana while using the Demon form that you utilized to kill your friend, Yosuke's, Shadow." Margaret told Yu.
"Hang on," Yu stopped the two before they could say anything else. "Why the hell could I use Izanagi then if I can't use a Persona of the Arcana I think he is?
Igor frowned, a rare spectacle in Yu's eyes. "That is a bit of a mystery to us as well. It could just be because you wouldn't be able to finish the Shadow off yourself."
"We will see you again, hopefully tomorrow." Igor finished, before forcing Yu out of the room, waking him. He found that his alarm wasn't beeping at him this morning, which he was quite grateful for.
(The next day…) (Sunday) (25th)
Yu, Yosuke and Chie met up at the food court. Chie told them that Yukiko was gone, and Yu confirmed that as well, as he had met up with Naoto on the way over, and she said that Yukiko has been reported as kidnapped. The group feared for their friend, so Yu thought that maybe Teddie had an idea, considering she appeared in a strange area that looked like the TV world, not that the others knew what it looked like without fog. According to Chie, it was so foggy that she could barely see the Yukiko on the screen. Yu and Yosuke had no trouble with their Demon Powers, however.
"Speaking of Teddie," Yosuke began talking about the strange bear. "What is up with him? Who controls him? What human could live there for so long?"
"Actually, he is completely free of humans inside of that costume. In other words, he's empty." Yu answered, earning two people staring at him with gaping mouths.
"He's empty, as in, there isn't anything controlling him?!" Chie asked.
"Yeah, I found that out with the strange enhanced senses that came with the ears and tail." Yu responded.
"Right, anyway, we need some weapons if we are to go in there again, I saw what was up with the Shadow creatures." Yosuke said.
"OK then, I know a really good place for that." Chie said. As the group got up, Yu was given the Investigation Team (AKA Fool) Arcana. Yu could only guess that was what the team would start calling themselves.
(Ten minutes later…) (Because Yu wanted to drop off the completed jobs and get some more paper.)
"Good God Yu, couldn't all of that stuff wait?" Chie asked, earning a blunt 'no' as a response. "Anyway, we're here!"
The group stood in front of Daidara's Metalworks, which, according to Chie, was the best weapons smith there was within a couple hundred miles of Inaba. They walking in and talked to Daidara for a minute, and Chie picked up her stuff, that she apparently requested a week or so ago, all wrapped up in a nice package, and then she left, leaving the boys with 1,000 yen, whatever money that Yu had earned, and a crap ton of weapons lying around.
Yu picked up an imitation katana for himself, and started looking at short-range weapons for his Demon Form, knowing it would be more natural for him to not wield a long sword in a beast mode. He decided to use dual claws that were longer and sharper than his nails. They covered his hands and wrists as well, protecting them. Yu then considered the fact that he would likely get hurt in the other world, so he looked through the armor to find something that suited him. He paid for the items, and looked at Yosuke, who was testing out two different pairs of knives. After he decided, Yu whispered to him about the beast form, and pointed Yosuke to look at the short weapons. He picked up lighter versions of Yu's, as he was going for speed to make up for the fact that he was rather weak physically, picking up armor as well. Yu gladly paid for Yosuke's items as well, as he had money to burn, and they walked out the store, Chie texting them to meet back at the food court.
(Back at the food court…)
Chie was waiting for them in the normal table that the group had pretty much claimed over time. (About three times, I believe now… I'm not keeping track, and am not going back to look.) Chie got up as they approached, walking to the TVs at the electronics, not waiting for the boys that were still a ways off. The boys caught up, and they all entered the TV.
(Inside the TV…)
Teddie was standing there, almost like he had been waiting for something to happen. "Hey there you guys, I think someone fell in here, but Shadows aren't allowing me to get close so I can let her out." He told them as they landed on the platform, with a smile on his face for reasons unknown to the humans.
"Can you help us get to her Teddie?" Yu asked him, gaining a wider smile from the bear.
"Well if I do, you have to fight, and you also have to promise to help uphold the peace of my world." Teddie said smiling a tad bit too much for the humanoids' enjoyment now.
"What are we, the Knights of the Kingdom of Teddie?" Yosuke asked acting like Teddie was an annoying king that he had the misfortune of getting helped by, now having to repay the debt.
"Sure!" Teddie replied, still being all too cheerful. "Now then, follow me, loyal knights of the Teddie Kingdom!"
Yosuke groaned. "I didn't mean that literally, stupid bear." He muttered the last part to avoid Teddie yelling at him about being kind to the king or some nonsense.
"Good job, it appears that he now believes that he is medieval royalty." Chie thwacked Yosuke on the head, causing Teddie to go into a rant about being kind to her fellow knight, unless he really deserved it or "King" Teddie authorizes it.
Teddie started making up random rules and such that the group would have to uphold, but they just smiled and nodded like they cared, even though they didn't. The first order of business that Teddie decided, at Yu's request, would be to find a safe spot for the team's weapons and hats, as they didn't want to drag the weapons back and forth through the Junes TV, as they barely managed to get through with the large objects undetected, and didn't want to lose the hats while they were off wondering in the TV.
After that was decided, Teddie finally walked them down to the castle that had appeared on the Midnight Channel. Along the way, Teddie got lost, and they ended up in front of a door. Taking a chance, Yu walked inside, only to a very disturbing room, which had a noose in the middle, and posters of Ms. Yamano that had the faces ripped out. Yu backed up, saying, "I think we shouldn't be here. Teddie, can we continue on." Teddie quickly agreed and ran off with the others in tow.
When they arrived at the correct destination, Yu and Yosuke requested that Teddie would hold their hats, and it was because of Yu being Teddies' "Favorite Knight" that he did so. As the four were about to walk in, Chie got impatient and ran ahead, out of sight in no time.
The rest of them sighed, and ran forward. Yu kicked open the door to the castle, momentary standing dramatically standing like in a movie. Hands clad in metal, katana gripped in one hand, Yosuke standing next to him, metallic hands holding his kunai. They darted forward, hacking and slashing through all of the Shadows that threatened them, gathering things from treasure chests, and finally reaching the floor that Chie had stopped at.
In front of her was a Shadow Chie, and it was stating that Chie was obsessed with dominating the relationship with Yukiko, also saying that Yukiko wouldn't even be her friend if it wasn't for her looks and low self-confidence that made her rely on Chie. Chie, naturally, claimed that the Shadow was lying, and told that it didn't know her because it wasn't her. As it was in the Shadows nature, the other self changed to a humanoid creature sitting on top of three others, showing off the whole "dominating over people" thing that was going on.
Yu sighed as he dropped the katana, and flexed his clawed hands a little. He asked Yosuke to cover him while he went into the beast mode, which required quite a bit of concentration at the moment. As he started to call forth the power, Yu muttered under his breath that he hoped the process would get easier later.
Finally feeling the energy coarse through him, Yu shot forward, slashing and hacking with his weapons, and everything else was composed of things that an animal would do. Yosuke jumped back, starting to tap into his inner animal.
Yu raised a hand, intending to summon Izanagi. When the card floated in front of him, there were no Arcana. Yu was surprised, and he heard a voice in his head, probably Margaret, say, 'Izanagi is unavailable when you are in the Demon Form, remember? You don't have a Persona that you can use currently.' Yu swore and released the form, summoning Izanagi, while he ran to retrieve his katana.
As he picked it up, Yosuke shot past him, with his Persona at his side, as he couldn't have multiple Personas, allowing him to use the normal one. Yosuke and Jiraiya tag-teamed the Shadow, taking away a large chunk of its life, which the boys could see like it was a video game, but Yu didn't think that it was because of the Demon Powers. Yu and Izanagi ran forward to fight as well, the combined might knocking the creature down. They all piled onto it, and because Yu wanted to be cool about it, he entered the Demon Form once again, and made the Shadow say hello to the bottom of his foot. The creature melted away in a black goop, the Shadow Chie slowing standing up out of it, a light red mark on her face from where Yu kicked her.
Chie stared at the Shadow as Yu and Yosuke pulled out their nail clippers, conversing to each other about how they would have to buy her a hat, and also about how they should really only clip their nails before exiting the TV. Shadow Chie walked up to the real one, asking forgiveness for trying to kill her, but it was only saying the truth that needed to be heard. Chie hung her head, saying, "Yeah, you're right. I hate to admit it, but it really is true, isn't it? I guess I do kind of control Yukiko, but now that I know, I can work on that, and get her to be more independent." Shadow Chie nodded happily, knowing that she had played her part long enough. She floated off the ground, and transformed momentarily into a female samurai, possibly from the time of the Genpei War. Like the other Personas, she then became a small glowing ball that phased into her chest.
Chie collapsed and the boys sighed as Yosuke picked her up, luckily not getting smacked for the action, while Yu looked through the things that he picked up in the dungeon. Throwing up a small item, it burst and poured over them, and suddenly they were back at the entrance. Before they left, Yu kindly asked Teddie to keep an eye on the weapons that they had to leave behind to avoid getting thrown in jail for carrying the things around. Teddie told them he would, but to hurry back, as he would get lonely otherwise. Yu jumped through the TV to avoid answering that, not wanting to drag the conversation on.
(In Junes…)
The boys immediately walked over to the hats, telling Chie that she would probably get the ears now that she has a Persona. Chie looked through the hats as the boys fed her information about keeping the Demon Powers secret. Chie picked out her hat, a yellow and white one, which confused the boys, as there were many other colors, but she just walked away, ignoring them. They paid for the hat, and walked out the supermarket, walking their separate ways when the time came.
Alright, that's done. Also, please note that after Persona Q comes out (I preordered the Premium Edition.) I will probably not update this until I'm all Persona Q'ed out. That will take at least a month. That's what I get for wanting to play as Yu though, as I don't have a PS anything. (except PSP, for Persona 3) I'm really glad it's coming for the 3DS. I might have been tempted to scream if it came out for the *new* 3DS, or the Vita, because I really want it.
