'Fore the Shadows (Invite Only)

[mugenginga]

(OOC: This is a launch of a pretty major plot. You need to talk to me or FF if you want in at any point. And we BOTH have to approve it. It is focused around Persona 4 with a solid dose of Devil Survivor. Its recommended you know one of the games (spoilers WILL be rampant), but not required. Anyhow, approval must be given by all involved.

So far its just me and Firebreath Fishslap)

Yuugi's COMP went off at seven in the morning. Despite being tired from things like the TV World and the Dark Hour, he'd wanted to get up early. As he was headed back to bed last night, his other self had told him there was something they needed to do today.

Atem's Puzzle rested on the nightstand along with the three other items Yuugi considered almost his lifeline in this world. There was a deck of cards, with fairly plain backs. Next to it was a card reminsicent of a Tarot Card. No number or anything of the sort, but a fairly Egyptian figure was on the front. It actually looked like a stylistic version of a god from Ancient Egyptian mythlogy. Yuugi had grabbed ahold of the third item. A dark yellow machine that looked like Nintendo DS, except with a different logo on the top. He pressed a few buttons as he sat up in bed. It was actually called a COMP.

The blanket fell down as he fumbled with the COMP. Without any pajamas, the teen had slept in his boxers. He didn't have many clothes in this new world. He'd have to go shopping again. Now that he knew what the rent was, he figured he could spend a bit more money. Really, what he had now didn't mesh as well with his sense of style as he would like. However, he had a funny feeling no thrift store would have it. He was on the small end of things, after all, and his "style" wasn't exactly something you often found in kid's shops. If ever.

He got out of bed and quickly got dressed in what he had been wearing the night before. He tried to get his hair in some kind of order. He hadn't been able to use soap when he showered last night. The fact that it had made such a difference just showed how badly he'd needed it. He pocketed the deck of cards and the single card into his vest before grabbing the Puzzle.

"Good morning, the other me."

"I was wondering how long you were going to take," Atem prodded.

"Leave me alone," Yuugi said in jest. He pulled his COMP back out of his jeans pocket before looking at it.

"What's up?"

"Well, I wanted to introduce myself to that demon. It doesn't seem right to use it as just a tool. Like the cards, right/"

Atem nodded, "So that is what I was picking up on last night. About Naoya, right?"

Yuugi sighed, "I don't care if they're under any kind of contract or anything of the sort. Doesn't give you the right to kick them around. I'm gonna call it out in the living room. Might be crowded in here."

Yuugi walked out into the Living Room. The Laplace Mail hadn't arrived yet. He actually wanted to ask K1 about that, but things had gotten tense since his cousin had shown up. The blue haired teen seemed to think he had to choose betwen the cousin he'd spent most of his life with and Yuugi. It was depressing.

The teen checked a few things on his COMP. The Demon Auction K1 had mentioned was still sealed. He suspected Kaiba could have cracked it, as it appeared to be some kind of sealed computer folder, but somehow he didn't think the man would have helped had he asked. Not unless he'd prostrated himself. After checking that he called out the jackal like creature. The COMP and K1 had called it a Kobold.

The Kobold materialized and looked towards Yuugi, "MASTER CALL?" it yelled. Yuugi almost dropped the COMP plugging his ears.

"You don't have to yell!"

The Kobold cocked its head sideways. It seemed to be waiting for something.

Yuugi lowered his hands and extended his hand. The Kobold looked more confused than before, "Uh... don't you know about handshakes?"

"Master want me to shake his hand? Why?"

Yuugi sighed, "My name's Yuugi. Not 'master'. And its because we're going to be working together. It's not right to kick you around."

The Kobold blinked. It was obviously very confused, "I contracted. Do what you say." it extended one of its own hands, showing no signs of understanding a hand shake as it shook it around in front of Yuugi's. The teen felt like sweatdropping. The creature obviosly wasn't very smart.

"No, I'm not ordering you. How do demons say hello?"

"Kill?"

Atem almost facepalmed. Yuugi was still trying to take it carefully. The Kobold turned to Atem than to Yuugi, "Two master? You not feel quite right."

"You can see me?"

"Not blind."

Atem shook his head. He supposed it made some kind of sense, "My name's Atem."

"I guess the contract only extends to a soul... And please stop calling me Master. I'm Yuugi. Do you have a name?"

"Why ask?"

"Because its polite."

"Why polite?"

"Partner, I'm not sure this is going to get you anywhere."

"It's okay, the other me. He probably just doesn't know much about humans."

"Me Neti. Never been in contract. Never knew humans cared about demon names." The Kobold finally answered.

"You can't lump us all together," Yuugi smiled, "Nice to meet you, Neti-san."

The Kobold seemed shocked, "You polite. Why use -san?"

"For the same reason you can use -kun or -san for me," Yuugi replied.

The Kobold scratched its head, "Neti head hurt. Can go back? Or Ma-Yuugi-san have orders?"

"It's okay. You can come back." Yuugi pressed a button on the COMP and Neti was drawn back into the COMP. He let out a sigh, "Wow, I didn't think it'd be that hard."

"It's likely the way occult rituals are done. I don't know how a computer program does it, but demons aren't summoned for anything other than specific purposes. Or by accident. But its not for interaction purposes."

"Right. So, where did you want to go?"

"We should check the phonebook. After last night I think you need a weapon. I'm sure there's a place on the island that sells swords,"

"Why a sword? I can't use weapons, let alone a sword!"

"That's why I want a sword. Its the only thing I can teach you how to use,"

"Wait, what...?"

If anyone was awake in Naoya's apartment, it was likely they'd heard a lot of the conversation. Actually, Neti's yelling probably woke someone up...

(OOC: Neti is not going to be signed up as an OC merely because he's likely to get used as Fusion fodder at some point. The only reason he even has a name is cause Yuugi's weird like that. XD)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1 yawned and sat up as Kobold started yelling. Swiftly, the teen put on his headphones to help drown out some of the sound. That had literally been the only reason he'd worn the things through the lockdown, since they didn't work anyways. Makeshift earmuffs rocked.

From the sound of things, the Kobold had a name. Well, that was a shocker. K1 himself had never asked any of his demons their names.
Oh, and they were going to go buy a sword later.

He went ahead and hopped out of bed, making sure to grab his COMP. As he passed by Naoya in the living room, he said, "I'll be back later. Don't burn the apartment down." After saying that, he headed on out into the hallway, and knocked on Yuugi's door.

"You alright in there? I heard the Kobold yelling," K1 asked. "He's really loud. Probably woke up half the complex."

----------------------

Souji was in the small kitchen of his apartment, working on some breakfast. Though he could provide for himself, he still wasn't used to making his own breakfast. Nanako usually had cooked something in the mornings.
He sighed. He missed her and Dojima both. The fact that he'd been brought to the island right after boarding that train made things even worse. He couldn't even call them.

For some odd reason, he was getting a feeling that today was going to be a bad day.

[mugenginga]

Naoya lifted his arm, not even dropping his typing speed as he did so. It was a wonder he even bothered using two hands, really. While he had heard Keiichi's jab, he made no indication of such. As usual, it was unclear to his cousin what he was doing on the computer. But there was a purpose. After all, the COMPs could still interact with the server...
-----

"I said if Nefertum can't fight, you need something to defend yourself with. Temu isn't capable of healing, and it would be useful to have that ability. All weapons require some skill, and I only know how to use swords,"

"I don't like violence..."

Atem folded his arms, trying to figure out how to convince Yuugi when K1 knocked on the door. They both looked up.

Yuugi sighed, knowing Atem was right but not wanting to admit it. He walked to the door and opened it, looking sheepish, "Sorry about that. I didn't know he'd yell. Are you headed out too?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

K1 nodded. "Yeah. I was going to go see if Souji-san was free this morning too, though I doubt it. He's probably run off to investigate that weird murder again." He sighed. "He's got too much on his plate."

"Actually, I'm taking a break today."

K1 turned around and faced Souji. "O-Oh, I didn't see you there."

"It's fine," Souji said. He wasn't wearing his school uniform, oddly enough, but the clothes he was wearing looked enough like it (if he bothered to button it up, anyways) that one could be fooled.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi had gotten a rather funny expression on his face as K1 was speaking. But Souji had pointed before K1 had seen the short teen's attempts to get his permission. He scratched the back of his head, "Did I wake you, too?"

He still didn't know where Atem wanted to go to find a sword. He'd seen a few weapon shops in the mall, but they seemed to stock modern weapons. He'd seen the sword his other self had used in the Memory World. It didn't qualify as modern. Even if they settled for a short sword, he'd only seen things like guns and knives in the shops...

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji shook his head. "I always get up early. In any case, I was coming up here to see you anyways."

It was amazing how people gravitated to this spot so easily.

"What for?" K1 asked.

"Training. I have a feeling that inside Tartarus, there's a rather powerful shadow waiting for us. So I'm going to go prepare," Souji explained. He shifted the hand he had on a couple of swords he'd brought down with him. One was the claymore he had been using the day before, and the other was a more traditional katana.

"I thought you said you were going to take it easy..." K1 said. He sweatdropped. "Why'd you bring two?"

[mugenginga]

K1 asked the question before Yuugi could. He held back a sigh. Both his other self and Souji were saying he needed a weapon. He'd never been involved in clubs in school, so he didn't even have that to draw on. Honda had been, although he'd dropped out of it relatively early in the first year of High School. Jounouchi was too busy trying to help his sister, and Anzu was always trying to find part time work. Bakura had always been fairly sickly, likely as a result of the Millenium Ring's influence. But it meant he didn't have any skills.

Actually, he wondered where Souji and Minato got their weapons from. In his world, guns were illegal. Swords were legal to own, but certainly not to run around using. Although Souji seemed to make a point of hiding them. He wasn't quite sure how he did that. He glanced at K1 before looking towards Souji and waiting for the teen's response.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji gave a slight grin. "I was thinking one of you two could train with me, if you so wished. It's not like I can go fight Shadows by myself to train anyways."

"Ah." K1 said. "I'm no good with weapons." This was true; it was only when the COMP was on that he could hold his own against others physically, otherwise it was all spells for him.

[mugenginga]

"I can't use any either," Yuugi paused, "And my other self says he wouldn't know how to use either of those."

Atem was grateful Yuugi didn't ask about his usage of one of Souji's swords in the TV World. The truth was he'd done so out of desperation to protect Yuugi. He coughed and Yuugi looked to the side with a confused look on his face. Atem waved him away and Yuugi turned back to the group.

"Um.. should we go? If anyone sees us standing here they might get confused."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji nodded. "Let's go on outside, then."
K1 followed after.

----------------

Once outside, Souji looked around. There was an empty field of sorts right next to the apartment complex. After wondering for a moment why it was never built on, Souji headed out into the field. K1 shrugged and followed after, finding a boulder to sit on. He found himself wondering why there were random boulders in convenient places around here.

-----------------

Unknown to Souji, someone rather familiar to him was approaching the apartment complex. He had arrived on the island fairly recently, and was searching for someplace to stay.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi looked at Souji, "I'm not even sure I can lift either of those."

Actually, he was fairly positive he couldn't life the Claymore. Thing looked like it weighed a ton. He remembered trying to hold Minato's sword during the first Dark Hour. It had been heavier than he expected. He assumed the katana would be too.

As it was, he looked rather unconfident. He made a nervous laughing noise, "So what am I supposed to do?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji looked down at the sword. "I'm really not sure," He admitted. "But as it is, someone needs to fight. I noticed that Atem-san couldn't use his Persona yesterday... I suppose that's because he hasn't faced himself yet."

"...Huh..." K1 absentmindedly said. He didn't seem to be paying much attention.

"Those evoker things that Atem-san and Arisato-san were using before, they seem to force one's Persona to emerge." Souji sighed. "That can't be safe. I'm worried his Persona might go berserk, like a shadow. So you'll just have to learn to fight for now."

With that, he walked over to Yuugi and handed him the katana. It was, in fact, rather heavy.

Souji didn't notice that someone in a suit was watching them from outside the building. As it was, the man in the suit was a bit surprised to see Souji there.

[mugenginga]

Atem had to admit, Souji kind of had a point. He couldn't summon Temu without the Evoker, for one. But it would mean he would need to fight. And when Yuugi practically fell down from the right of the sword that was forcefully handed to him, he quickly took dominance. It was rather interesting. Technically they shared the same body, and as such had the same base physical strength. But Atem was more used to weapons. He knew they were heavier than they looked. But it still felt unwieldy.

He'd seen people use weapons they weren't used to. It tended to end poorly for the user. As it was he knew there was no way he could keep a hold of it with one hand. He was about to tell Souji that he didn't think this would work when he realized someone was watching them. He lowered the katana so the ground could support some of its weight and looked over to the side. Sure enough, there was a man there.

"Can we help you?" he asked. It was possible Adachi would be surprised by the shift in voice and stance. The new one was far more confident, and a little more antagonistic.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi almost jumped when Atem approached him. He didn't expect the boy's voice to change like that. "...Do I? I'm a bit lost. I've been wandering around here for the past couple days."

Souji turned to see who Atem was talking to, and for the first time since K1 had met the teen, he saw Souji's face pale. Souji was briskly walking up to Adachi, and he had not dropped the claymore.

"What are you doing here, Adachi!?" Souji said in a harsher tone than normal for him. Adachi backed up a little bit.

"H-Hey! Long time no see!" Adachi said, trying to sound a bit cheerful for once.

"I thought you were still in jail," Souji growled. This made K1 raise an eyebrow. Souji didn't typically act like this. Whoever this guy was must have really pissed Souji off in the past.

[mugenginga]

Atem raised an eyebrow before quickly harshening his expression. Yuugi looked very confused as Atem walked forward a bit. He did make sure Souji had enough room to swing his weapon. He just hoped the other teen wouldn't decide to kill the man, even if he was who he expected.

"Seta-kun, is he who I think he is?"

Atem knew how observant Souji was. He hoped the teen would get what he meant. As it was, even that much might imply to the man that the spiky-haired teen knew certain things. Atem wasn't glaring, per se, but he was carefully observing the situation.

As for Yuugi... he was just as clueless as K1. Too bad he wasn't active so K1 could realize this.