Identity Shock (Invite Only)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato sighed and headed back to his own apartment. He really hoped nothing else bad would happen at the festival. Teddie had already headed back to the apartment, so it looked like Minato was the only one of the group still hanging around the hallway, since Yuugi and Atem had headed up the stairs while Minato was busy with Adachi's door.

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

Adachi was on his way back to his apartment from the police station. Well, that had been an eventful day. Meeting Bakura, chasing Bakura, getting Bakura back to the apartments, getting called off to some shrine that's run by the chick he got his powers from... At the moment, he just wanted to kick back and watch some TV. And maybe take a shower. Takahashi-san had been teasing him about how dang greasy his hair was again.

As Adachi passed by the alleyway he'd found Bakura in before, he suddenly got the urge to go down it. For some reason, he felt like there was someone in there.

His suspicions were confirmed as he took a few steps forward, and someone yelled, "Who's there!"

"Ryou-kun? Is that you?" Adachi hesitantly asked.

[mugenginga]

"Nope, it's Anpu. Hell, can't you tell by my stance? Ryou has poor posture and looks like he's trying to make himself the same size as the Pharaoh's boyfriend most of the time. Had a little run-in with the group earlier. Souji looked motion sick and for all I know that Ryoji kid has a tumor. Speaking of which, how religious are you? Your name was brought up, so unless you're stupider than you look you know at least something about Izanagi and Izanami."

Poor Adachi couldn't catch a break. If he wasn't being kicked around by one person it was another. As usual, Anpu was referring to the group as "kid" or "teen". It probably made one wonder how old Anpu viewed himself to be, sixteen year old body or not.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi took a step back as Anpu suddenly unloaded the latest news on him. Yeah, definitely Anpu then. Shit.

"Er... I know a little bit, but not that much about them... Wait, did you say Seta was motion-sick?" Adachi asked. Adachi almost never got carsick, but one thing he remembered from that day was that he had been carsick. He remembered it because later he'd puked all over the seats.

[mugenginga]

Anpu raised an eyebrow, "Yes, I did. I assume he went to lay down. I think he would have summoned his Ka... Persona as peoplen these days seems to call it, had I stuck around. Come to think of it, might have caused him to pass out. Ah well, opportunity lost. How is that important? And tell me what you do know about them. I'm from what this place seems to call 'Ancient' Egypt and I don't like being in the dark about the gods."

If Adachi was observant that day, he'd pick up on several things. Anpu said 'how', implying he knew it was important and that Adachi wasn't squirrelling out of answering it. He still seemed to be having a bit of issues with the whole 3,000 years ago thing, with the implied quotes around "Ancient". And there were heavy implications he more than believed in the gods, although if he did he didn't respect the "Pharaoh is God" concept... or just didn't care.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi gave a nervous laugh. "Er, well, this is just speculation on my part, but I know I got all motion-sick when I got my Persona summoning powers, so I think that has something to do with it... I think it's got more to do with Izanami, though."

He remembered at that point that he hadn't explained Izanagi and Izanami to Anpu yet. "This might not be totally correct, I never was into this kinda stuff, but anyway, Izanagi and Izanagi were these two gods who supposedly created all of Japan and gave birth to all of the other gods. While Izanami was giving birth to this one fire god, she died from the burns, and Izanagi went to Yomi to bring her back. The exact details escape me, but, I think what happened was Izanagi was bringing her back to the world of the living, looked back even though he wasn't supposed to, saw Izanami was a rotting corpse, freaked out, and sealed the entrance to Yomi with a boulder. So Izanami pretty much hates Izanagi. And I guess she's the person who gave me and Seta, and I guess Namatame too, our Persona summoning powers."

[mugenginga]

Anpu listened with intent focus as Adachi spoke. So Souji and Adachi had been granted their power from a goddess. From what he could tell with a level of observance that at least matched the Pharaoh's, the Ka of both of them were aspects of the same god. He didn't realize the irony of his thoughts as he compared that fact to how Ra had multiple aspects... one of which the Pharaoh was named after.

"Souji is freaking out over possibly being an avatar of Izanagi As an avatar he's got a goddess pissed at him for no fault of his own. Women are more trouble than they're worth, even among the gods... I almost feel sorry for him. Tell me this, Adachi," Anpu's gaze narrowed, his humor from the situation Souji seeme to be in gone in a flash, "He didn't act like you were targeted. What makes your aspect of this god different from his? Why is Izanami focused on him and not you?"

Anpu wasn't happy, either. From what Adachi had said, he and Souji had the Ka of gods. His own Ka was more related to demons than gods. The only individual he had known to possess the Ka of gods was the Pharaoh. And it was a hereditary thing from the research he'd done, only the "true" Pharaoh could summon the three phantom gods.

Even then, it had taken the Pharaoh some time to harness even one of them, and the drain on his Ba was extreme. The fact that Adachi could summon a god with only a headache as a symptom had several interpertations. Adachi was far stronger than he seemed, a route Anpu dismissed. He was more experienced than Anpu realized, which was possible. The most likely, however, was that the method of summoning Ka through cards was less draining. Anpu was leaning towards that with his experience in regards to Diabound.

It didn't change the fact that Adachi and Souji could summon the Ka of a god. His gaze got darker as he waited for Adachi's answer. There was a chance he'd need to make his point about who was in charge of this little arrangement again. Every once in a while subordinates had to be reminded of their place, after all. Anpu wouldn't admit Adachi was far stronger, but the man was more conniving than people gave his goofy exterior credit for. He was the type one had to keep an eye on...

[Firebreath Fishslap]

The Seta kid was an avatar of Izanagi? If that was true then... that meant Adachi had a god mad at him. Constantly. Adachi didn't like where that was going.

He blinked as he was confronted with another question. "Er... I really don't know, maybe it's because of that avatar thing? The only difference between my Izanagi and his Izanagi was mine was red and covered in blood and his wears a bunch of black leather and looks like a delinquent." Well, Adachi's looked like a delinquent too, but it was a bloody delinquent.

The thing was, Adachi wasn't aware that Souji's Persona had changed since the last time he'd seen it.

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

At that particular moment, Souji had been sitting in bed. He was starting to think he was catching a cold; he'd just sneezed.

Once again, he was staring at the image on the card he used to summon his Personae with. The image of Izanagi-no-Okami on the front stared back.

I am thou... and thou art I... thou art the one who opens the door...

He remembered that even now. He was sure that had been the moment when Izanagi had awakened, it just wasn't until that time in the TV World that he'd been summoned. Now Souji was wondering what the true meaning of those words had been. Just how literal was that first part supposed to be?

[mugenginga]

Anpu was unreadable. But the fact was somewhere, Adachi had missed something. He'd seen the image Souji had on his card. It didn't match what Adachi was saying. It had looked like a version of the Ka Adachi had summoned. But it hadn't been black. He'd caught the image on the card, the thing there had been white.

He stared at Adachi for a few more moments, not even appearing to breath. He was, but Anpu had long learned how to control and conceal it. It helped convince people you were dead if they didn't think you were breathing. He didn't say anything, just stared. He had a goal with that, but damn if Adachi would know what it was.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"Urk..." Adachi took a couple steps back. He really didn't like how Anpu was staring at him. It was very disconcerting. The way he couldn't even see the kid breathing was kind of creepy too.

"I-I really don't know anything else, sorry..." Adachi said. "Oh, oh, wait! I do remember something else! Izanagi's not his only Persona, he can use multiple Personas. He's got this one that looks like a skeleton angel, and another one that looks like a fish angel, and... he's got a lot of angel personas, but anyway, he's got a ton of them. Most Persona users can only use one, though."

He knew this part because he'd been watching Seta's little troupe running through Magatsu Inaba after Adachi had announced he was waiting for them at the end. All of them except Seta had used only one Persona, but Seta had a ton of different ones he had used. That weird version of Izanagi had been Seta's main Persona, though.

[mugenginga]

Anpu nodded. In Egypt, the abiity to use more than one Ka was a function of the Dia Dank, but the method of this era could be different. After all, the basic method of summoning was. Anpu knew he could summon more than one via cards. The cards Adachi and Souji used were different, but it was perhaps tied to their power being granted from a goddess. He'd seen no one else summon them, after all. As for Souji using more than one... he was more freaked out about things than Adachi. He suspected there was more to Souji's talent than Adachi knew.

In Egypt it had been a right of only the Pharaoh and his Priests to use the Dia Danks, although he had stolen one from the tomb of Atem's father. The only one he could recall summoning them without an external method was a woman the Priest Set had known. He'd heard about it here and there, although he had never seen the figure spoken of as the "White Dragon". He'd heard rumors it surpassed the power of the three phantom gods, but Zorc had forced its way out. He still wasn't sure how he was alive, but chose not to dwell on it.

In any case, he was confident the figure he'd seen on Souji's card was still Izanagi. A different aspect, perhaps, but Izanagi nonetheless. He was also confident Adachi didn't know about it. Which meant since Adachi had last seen Souji's Ka, it had changed. He turned away from Adachi, hoping the man was not foolish enough to think a turned back meant he was unaware. He spoke as he walked.

"My host has been invited to a 'festival' tomorrow at the sacred grounds of that goddess. I believe most of the Pharaoh's group will be going. My host will, whether he wishes it or not," Anpu smirked and looked down at the Ring. He lifted it up and looked at it distantly, "Although if he keeps balking me I might have to teach him his place, first..."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi followed after Anpu, since that was really all he could do at the moment. So Seta's friends were going to that festival tomorrow... Adachi supposed that he'd be okay since he would be on duty tomorrow. Plus, he doubted Seta would actually go after what had happened today.

And then Anpu had made his threat toward Bakura, and Adachi stopped in his tracks.

"Y-You're not seriously going to hurt him, are you?!" Adachi asked. He didn't like where this was going.

[mugenginga]

Anpu pasued as Adachi squeaked out his question. That was panic if he'd ever heard it. Anpu kept the Ring in his hand as he turned his head. He looked almost bored and shrugged. He lifted the Ring up to indicate it as he spoke.v

"That is really up to Ryou, it's his choice if he works against me or with me. If he doesn't understand who is in charge here, that's his problem. Don't tell me you're worried about him...?" Anpu grinned widely. Even for his usual sadistic look, ths was a bit more than usual, "I won't kill him. I am using his body after all," he dropped the Ring and ran his pointer and middle finger of his right hand and quickly ran them over his upper left arm, "But if I have to take measures to make my point, I will. He has a lower pain tolerance, you see?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi took another step back. That bastard. So in the short time Adachi had been gone, he'd decided Bakura needed to be put in his place for some reason or another. He bet Bakura didn't want to go along with Anpu's stupid plans. Well no shit, Anpu's host was friends with the kid who used to be this Pharaoh's host and apparently was now the Pharaoh's boyfriend.

It was possible that Adachi could get the Ring away by force here. But he wasn't sure that he could do that and not end up hurting Bakura in the process. Especially since Anpu could mimic Bakura.

"...You're a bastard, you know that?" Adachi growled.

[mugenginga]

Anpu shrugged, "I do what I have to in order to accomplish my goals, I suspect you're not above manipulating situations to your own end. What are your reasons for acting, Adachi? I act on the anger of my entire village and I do not tolerate those that get in my way. You were there when I spoke to the Pharaoh, you know my motives."

The thief king turned around and gestured in front of him, indicating his body, "This is an inconvenience, but it has its advantages. Your reaction towards my threat just showed one of them. And I won't hurt Ryou if I don't have to. I'd have to heal from it as well. I offered to share, if he wants to be stubborn about it, that is his problem. If you're that worried about him..."

Anpu shot forward. It was as fast as a human in his condition could move. Considering Bakura was underweight and not athletic, it was only a bit faster than norm. There was nothing Anpu could do about that overnight, but he was working on it. Adachi would only have a slight chance of dodging. If he didn't he would find his throat grasped and he'd be violently shoved into a side of the building in an alley. Probably have a bump on his head.

And Anpu had left his statement unfinished. The implication was he had more to say. He'd say it once this action was done. If it worked, it would be said with Adachi against the wall and his hand clasped firmly around the policeman's throat.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi jumped back out of the way. The kid was trying to kill him! Fine, well, if he was going to play that way... then he wouldn't hold back either! Adachi grabbed his head with one hand and flinched as a wave of pain moved through his skull, and there was a sound like shattering glass as Magatsu Izanagi appeared above Adachi. When Anpu turned around, he would find the point of a knife-like spear pressed to his throat.

"You're really starting to piss me off," Adachi growled. It wasn't the same panic filled tone from before. It was something calmer. And matching the tone was one of Adachi's patented psycho faces. "If it weren't for the fact that it would kill Ryou too, I'd kill you right now."