A/N: Okay, so...Chapter 7. Nifty. :)

Thanks as always to everyone who's reading this. Your support truly does mean a lot to me; I know that P2 isn't a fandom with much going on, especially compared to P3 and P4, and I appreciate you guys taking the time to come on this journey with me. :D

As a bonus, I've done up a sketch of Riko! It's on my tumblr (the link to which is on my profile under About Me; my username over there is yuzukimist) if you guys are interested in checking it out. :D It's my first sketch of anything after a long dry period art-wise, but I think it's not too shabby, all things considered. XD


Riko and Lisa got off work late that afternoon, just before five thirty, and headed straight for Shun's townhouse, hoping that the others made some headway in finding Eikichi while they'd been gone.

When they arrived, Riko rang the doorbell and Shun opened the door a moment later. "Remind me to get you a key," he told her absently as he ushered them inside.

She smiled a bit at that, arching an eyebrow. "Didn't realize you liked me that much."

"I like you just fine," he told her with a faint smile as they headed back upstairs with Lisa trailing behind them. "It's these other assholes who are driving me up the wall," he added darkly as they reached the second floor.

"Uh-oh," Riko said, slanting him a look. "What happened?"

He blew out an annoyed breath as they went down the hall to what Riko thought of as their 'war room'. "Well, things started out fine. We were all trying to track down that Mishina guy using our own methods. Regrettably all those methods invariably involve depending on some sort of technology, whether it's using a computer or just the phone."

Riko frowned, confused. "And this is a problem...why, exactly?"

"Because Wakahisa's townhouse is apparently a tech dead zone," Baofu commented dryly as they came in, having evidently overheard Reiko's question. "Nothing's working like it's supposed to."

"Like I told you the first twenty times," Shun replied, his voice just short of a growl, "there is nothing wrong with anything in my townhouse. I had a maintenance check run just last month; everything should be fine."

"Then why is nothing working?" Ulala complained. "My back-up laptop exploded for fuck's sake."

"Watch your language," Baofu said, though from his tone it was obvious he's didn't really mean it, and probably didn't feel strongly about it one way or the other. He also seemed to be slightly distracted, focused as he was on one his own computers, which was now emitting somewhat alarming crackling sounds.

Ulala, unsurprisingly, reacted to the chastisement not at all. "Yeah, yeah," was all she said.

Riko glanced at Lisa, who was wearing a confused scowl that Riko suspected was gracing her own features as well. "Uh...guys. Focus, please. What. Happened."

"Not a clue," Shun replied, turning back to Riko. "Things were going okay for about an hour, but since sometime late this morning the entire neighborhood's been suffering from these random power fluctuations. The power will go out completely, then surge up like crazy the next. It's not just here at the townhouse," he added, shooting a pointed glare in Baofu's direction. "I checked in with some of the others around here and everyone's having the same problems as we are, whether it's the convenience store two blocks down or little old lady Suzuki one street over. The entire neighborhood's caught up in whatever is causing these power fluctuations."

"What the hell's causing it?" Riko asked.

"We don't know," Katsuya answered, looking up from a stack of paper he'd been sifting through. "I tried to put in a call to the precinct responsible for this district, but my call got cut off and I couldn't get back through after that. I had half a mind to drive down there and discuss the issue with someone in person, but even the cars are acting up."

Riko's frown deepened. "That's...not normal, is it? Even if there is a problem with the power grid or something...it shouldn't affect the cars, right?"

"No, it shouldn't," Tatsuya agreed, speaking up for the first time since Riko and Lisa had gotten back. "Cars and other automotive vehicles just don't work that way; even an electric hybrid or something like that wouldn't be affected by a power surge unless it was plugged into a recharging outlet at the time, and possibly not even then."

Riko wondered at his knowledge of cars then recalled a vague snippet of his memories, something to do with a motorcycle or something? Maybe he still kept up on mechanic stuff? Regardless, he seemed pretty confident about his statements and she felt inclined to believe him. "Okay, so...not normal, then."
"It could be Shadows," Shun said thoughtfully after a moment. "My computers started acting up around the time I met Riko." He looked over at her. "And you were fighting Shadows both those days, right?"

"Yeah," she agreed. "But even so...that could have been an effect of time freezing when they're around; there's no way of knowing that Shadows are the cause of this. Time isn't frozen, for one thing; and as far as I know, there aren't any Shadows around here powerful enough to rampage around without freezing time. Igor said something to me once about how interacting with our world when it's 'fully active' or whatever is too taxing for them or something; basically, any Shadow able to affect our world in real-time would need to powerful enough to compensate for that."

"Meaning that if this is a Shadow, it's going to be much stronger than the ones you're used to dealing with," Baofu surmised.

"Yeah," she agreed. Then frowned because she'd just agreed with Baofu.

He gave her a smirk that let her know he'd noticed it, too, which just made it twice as annoying.

"Anyway," she said, "if it is a Shadow, we need to deal with it."

"But how can we be sure it is a Shadow?" Lisa asked, not looking convinced. "Isn't there any way we can check and be sure before we just go running off? And how would we even find it? We can't just go traipsing around the city and hope we cross paths with it."

"We could ask Igor," Tatsuya suggested.

"Yeah," Shun agreed, "he seems like the omniscient type. Let's pay him a visit."

"Hold on," Katsuya said. "We can't all just go tearing off all of a sudden. We need to plan out a course of action and proceed carefully."

Riko made a rude gesture. "What would you suggest, then?" she asked irritably. "We can't get any work done like this." She made a sweeping gesture to indicate the general mayhem that was their war room. "Should we wait for the Shadow to find us? Yeah, that'll work. And it's not like we're crunched for time or anything ridiculous like that," she added sarcastically.

Katsuya, normally relatively calm and collected, looked one breath from exploding; Riko would've been perversely pleased at pushing his buttons had she not been so sure most of his anger came from a day full of frustration. "I didn't say that we shouldn't go," the detective said in a tight voice. "I simply suggested that we need a plan. Going off half-cocked will only get people injured or killed. Or is that sort of collateral damage inconsequential to you, Yukimura?"

Riko took an angry step in his direction at the implication in his words, but Shun quickly moved to stand between them, cutting her off from whatever brash action she'd been about to take.

"Ease up," Shun told her in a low voice. "I know you don't like him very much but picking a fight right now isn't going to help anybody."

For some reason, Shun's words calmed her down, if only slightly. She wasn't sure if it was because what he was saying really made sense to her...or if it was just because it was Shun and she had an inexplicable tendency to listen to him when she normally wouldn't listen to anyone. Whatever the reason, she took a deep breath, nodded, and stepped back.

Shun looked at her carefully for a moment then, seemingly satisfied with her response, stepped back as well. "In any case," he said, speaking to the room at large, still in that lets-all-play-nice voice, "We still need to contact Igor and find out whether these power outages are Shadow-related. As soon as we know that, then we can come up with a plan to deal with it. Okay?"

After some murmuring and grumbling, they decided that, yes, that sounded reasonable.

About half a second after they decided this, a blue door with an unearthly glow materialized right where a large oil painting had been.

"It's almost sort of obnoxious when he does that," Riko observed thoughtuflly.

"I don't think calling Igor obnoxious will help us to convince him to give us information," Shun observed dryly.

Riko shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "He's nigh-omniscient, remember? I'm sure he already knows how I feel."

Shun rolled his eyes. "Riko..."

"Fine, fine." She wrinkled her noce. "I'll behave."

Baofu snorted. "That I'd like to see."

She shot him a venomous glare before striding to the blue door, yanking it open, and stepping through. There was some more grumbling from the adults (with the exceptions of Tatsuya and Lisa, who had both remained largely neutral throughout the entire debate; Riko couldn't help but wonder why), but they all followed after her anyway, and soon they were all enveloped in bright white light that faded as they stepped into the Velvet Room again, where Igor was fiddling with yet another deck of tarot cards.

"Welcome," he said, looking up from the deck he was shuffling. "I have been expecting you."

"Oh?" Riko arched an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Igor gave her a chiding look. "Petty behavior does not become you, Miss Riko. We both know why you are here. Now, why don't you and your friends get comfortable. This discussion may take a little while." He gestured for her and the others to sit down across from him in a set of velvet armchairs that definitely hadn't been here the last time.

She hesitated, then complied; the Velvet Room's shifting appearances weren't why she and the others had come here, after all, and thinking too hard about the physical impossibilities of the Velvet Room was a guarantee of migraines. So she refocused her attention on the real reason they were here. "What do you know about the power fluctuations in Shun's neighborhood?"

Igor resumed shuffling his tarot cards, not seeming to focus on either them or her, as if he were looking at some middle distance that was invisible to her. "You are right in thinking it to be a Shadow," he said after a moment. "It is similar to another powerful Shadow that appeared over a year ago; that one, too had a negative impact on electrical systems. That is where similarities end, however. The Shadow from a year ago was technically one of twelve parts that together formed a larger, much deadlier entity. The one wreaking havoc here and now, today, is one of a kind, with no apparent connections to anything else."

"So it's, what?" Ulala crossed hr arms. "A big-ass monster that just decided to come out and play?"

Riko wanted to be annoyed at the other woman's interupption, but she'd basically said exactly what Riko had been thinking, so she just looked expectantly at Igor, waiting for him to answer.

"A Shadow attack of this nature is unexpected for me as well," Igor said at last. "For Shadows to be able to roam the human world unchecked,without affecting the flow of time, is already unusual. But for a Shadow this powerful to be on the loose...it should be impossible."

"But clearly it isn't," Katsuya pointed out. "Or we wouldn't be here, having this conversation."

Igor nodded. "Indeed. I can assume there is a reason for it, although I cannot yet guess what it could possible be. In any case," he went on, "this Shadow must be stopped. If it truly is as powerful as I fear, it poses great danger to the innocents in the area. If it should shift it's attention from the power grid to the people..."

They all remained silent as that sank in.

Ulala spoke first. "Well, shit." She ran a hand through her hair, fingers trembling ever so slightly. "Better get out there and kill the damn thing, right?"

Baofu surprised Riko by going over to Ulala and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "It can't be too much of a threat to us," he told her in an offhanded way. "We kicked all those other bastards' asses without too much trouble, remember? This should be no problem at all."

"Do not be overconfident," Igor warned sternly. "These Shadows are not what you are used to dealing with; they may be similar to demons, but they are not the same."

Tatsuya frowned slightly. "That's something that's been nagging at me," he admitted. " I haven't seen any Shadows in person yet, so I have no way to make any comparisons. How are they different, exactly?"

Igor made a 'hmmm'ing sound. "It is difficult to explain," he said with a sigh, "but I will explain as best I can. Demons, as you know, are sentient beings of varying levels of power that we believe originate from alternate dimensions and realms. Shadows, on the other hand, are not technically from anywhere else; they are born from the dark desires of human beings, the shadows within their souls, so to speak. They generally manifest when a person's subconscious desires become so strong that the energy almost becomes an entity unto itself. Personas are also Shadows, of a sort; they are similar aspects of a person's psyche, but tamed enough to make them of use to the wielder; they symbolize growth and acceptance of one's self."

"Hang on a minute," Ulala said suddenly. "If a Persona represents who we are, then why the hell is mine the High Pixie right now? That's not who I am!"

"Maybe you've regressed," Riko suggested slyly.

"What was that, you brat?!"

"I cannot say as to why your Persona is what it is at this moment in time," Igor said, raising his voice to be heard over their squabbling. "If you want to know the reasons, I suggest looking inward."

Ulala huffed but made no response, just crossing her arms and looking sullen.

"In any case," Igor went on, "another notable difference between demons and Shadows is that demons can appear at any time and any place, whenever they choose. They are not particularly bound by any constraints or rules to prevent them from popping up wherever they want. Shadows, however," he went on, "are a little trickier when it comes to that sort thing. For whatever reason, perhaps because they are manifestations of the subconscious, they have trouble existing alongside humans in ordinary circumstances. The fabric of existence must be affected in some way for them to be able to appear and interact with mortals; in some circumstances, certain places become warped to suit the Shadows' needs, such as what happened in Iwatodai City, with Tartarus and the Dark Hour."

"Where?" Riko asked, confused. "And what exactly was the Dark Hour? You've mentioned it before, but-"

"Never mind that now," Igor said, waving a hand dismissively. "You shall learn the full story at a later time; it is not relevant at the moment."

Riko felt strongly inclined to disagree; it seemed very, very relevant. But Igor had that look on his face, the one that made ti clear that further questioning wasn't going to get her anywhere, so she reluctantly let it go. "You shouldn't give it as an example if you don't intend to explain it more," she said instead.

He shook his head. "My apologies," he replied, though he didn't sound particularly sorry. "I didn't mean to confuse you further."

Riko opened her mouth to say something more, but Shun elbowed her very gently in the side, and she relented. "It's fine," she said with a sigh. "Just get on with your explanation already. We have places to be, old man."

Igor gave a faint smile. "Indeed you do." He cleared his throat. "In any case, my point is this: be careful. The Shadow you are after should not be able to behave in this way; something else may be afoot here. Be cautious."

"We'll be careful," Katsuya assured him, shooting Riko an I-told-you-so look.

She rolled her eyes, but nodded. "We'll be careful," she parroted back obediently.

"Good," Igor said, seemingly satisfied. "Now, onto other matters. You will need weapons. I suggest visiting this shop before you go rushing into battle." He set set down his deck of tarot cards and pulled a small business card out of thin air, holding out to Riko.

She took it and looked down at the print. "Seika Metalworks?"

"It's a very nice little blacksmith shop," Igor explained. "The owner sells many interesting things there; armor, weapons, a few odds and ends. I think it will prove to be very useful for you."

"It's certainly handier than spreading a rumor," Baofu remarked, though what exactly he meant by that Riko didn't know; something to do with whatever mess they'd been involved in before? Oh well; it hardly mattered now.

"You still haven't told us where the Shadow is," Lisa pointed out, speaking up suddenly. "You do know, don't you?"

"It shouldn't be terribly hard for the seven of you to track it down," Igor remarked, neatly dodging the question. "In fact, I believe it will be a good test of your group's ability to work as a cohesive unit."
"Are you saying this is a test?" Riko blurted, not sure she liked the sound of that.

Igor gave her a mysterious smile. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. Why do you ask? Do you feel like you need to be tested, Miss Riko?"
Riko shook her head emphatically. "No. Definitely not." Except...their group hadn't really been put in a true combat situation, had they? Or any combat situation at all, really. Katsuya, Baofu, and Ulala had been there for her last battle with Shadows, but hadn't participated like Shun had. And there hadn't really been any Shadows since then, even though it had been a fairly decent stretch of days since the last fight. Meaning...she had absolutely no idea how their group would work together in a fight against an enemy.

Well. That's certainly not a healthy way to go about things. Going in with a team not accustomed to working together had the potential to be worse in the end than fighting alone. She knew she and Shun were a pretty good combination in battle, but she had no idea what the others brought to the table.

Time to find out, I guess. "Will there be other Shadows besides the one we're after?" she asked Igor. "Will there be battles before that one where we can get used to working together, instead of just jumping into a major fight and hoping for the best? Because I didn't want to die last year, or a week ago, and I certainly don't want to die now. Some practice runs would probably help with that."

"What do you know," Baofu remarked lightly. "The brat has a brain in her head after all."

Riko didn't pay him any attention at all, focused on Igor instead. "Well?"

"The main Shadow is indeed surrounded by a smaller group of less-powerful Shadows that are, I believe, intended to serve as protection. You shall have to work your way through those ranks of lesser Shadows before you can reach their leader."

"Good," Riko said, pleased.

"'Good'?" Lisa repeated in disbelief."How exactly is that good, Riko-chan?"

"It's just like she said," Tatsuya observed. "We haven't worked together as a group, not really. None of us other than Riko and Shun have fought in ages, and we've never fought together as a group before."
"That's not true," Katsuya objected. "You and I fought together with Baofu and Ulala, and Amano-san, when we stopped Nyarlathotep before."
"But like I said, that was a long time ago."

"Not that long; just a couple years."

"It's long enough to have made a difference," Tatsuya insisted. "And even if it wasn't, Lisa wasn't with us then, and neither were Riko and Shun. I'm the only one here who's fought alongside Lisa, and Riko and Shun have only fought alongside each other."

"And only the once," Riko felt compelled to point out. "Shun's Persona awakened just after we met, but we've only fought Shadows together once, that time outside the motel. I was running solo before that."

"You mean...fighting by yourself?" Lisa asked, looking surprised. "That can't have been easy."

Riko shrugged. "It wasn't so bad. Sucked, but I've been through worse." She glanced over at Igor. "Did you have anything else cryptic to say, or can we get going now?"
Igor chuckled and gestured to the door. "Off you go, Miss Riko. Do look after yourself. This quest, after all, will end poorly if you allow yourself to be killed."

"Thanks for your concern," Riko replied with a wry smile. "It' very touching."

She stood, the Seika business card clutched in her hand, and went over to the exit door. She glanced over her shoulder at hre team, her gaze landing on Shun last. He met her gaze and gave a small nod. She smiled back, just a little, then faced the door again. With a deep breath to brace herself, she pulled it open, and stepped through yet again, not sure where the light would leave her this time.


A/N: And that's Chapter 7, my friends. What did you think? Good, bad? Amusing? Sucky? Shoot me a review if you've got a second to spare; I love feedback. :D

And don't forget to check out the Riko sketch on my tumblr, if you're curious to see how she looks to me (my drawing being a shoddy representation, of course. XD)

Also, in other semi-related news: I'M FINALLY PLAYING INNOCENT SIN! My best friend/sister got it for me for my birthday and I'm 30+ hours in and loving every second (well, the Caracol dungeon started to wear on me a bit after a while, but there was Jun at the end so it was worth it XD).

Anyway, that's pretty much it for now. My next update should be in about a week if everything goes according to plan. Sorry for the slightly late update this time around; I had plans to update Monday but work's been just crazy lately and my days off got shuffled all around. :P

See you next time!