Sol Raveh ~ Application

[wantedittobeagame]

Player Name: Skyla
Contact: skyladoragono
Referred by: Letty
Other characters: NA

Character Name: Tohru Adachi
Series: Persona 4
Canon Point: What would be the end of Arena Ultimax in canon timeline.
AU information/differences from canon:
Short Version
Persona 4
- Adachi is the protagonist.
- "Protagonist" is Seito Souzen (for distinguishing purposes) and the antagonist.
- Eight people die instead of three.
- IT consists of (in order of joining): Adachi, Saki, Yukiko, Naoto, Kanji, Rise, Teddie, Sayoko, and Dojima.
- Adachi has to face his own Shadow before the Velvet Room can reach him.
- Adachi's attendant is Michael, who was once Minato Arisato.
- Red hearing character is Kou Ichijou.
- General sequence of events is roughly the same.
- Izanami is sure to rub in Adachi's face that he's not supposed to exist as he does.
Arena
- Events generally follow Yosuke's storyline from canon, with Saki and Yukiko sharing spotlight parts.
- Adachi encounters Theo, who reveals a lot about who Michael really is.
Arena Ultimax
- General sequence of events is roughly the same as the P4 Story Line.
- Shinjiro is alive and helping the team.
- Seito is alive, but assists Adachi differently by passing his Persona on to him.

Long Version
Adachi's AU is a roleswap between himself and the canon protagonist, known as Seito Souzen in his story. He is still a detective, however he is placed in the role of the hero and all the baggage that goes with it: social linking, Fool Arcana, Wild Card, ect. He can use different Personae depending on the social links he's formed, in addition to his natural Persona: Izanagi. Because of his different role in the story, he also develops differently personality-wise. His goofy exterior is much less an act and more genuine in this story, however he is still an asshole at heart, and because of his crappy attitude, it takes him much longer to progress than it does for the canon protagonist.

Before going to Inaba, Adachi was an elite detective working in the Iwatodai police department, and life was good. That all changed for him during an investigation, when he lost his composure and shot a suspect in the case. He was so shocked from the event that he convinced himself the situation was not as bad as it was, and ended up coming off as feeling no remorse for his actions -- the man would have ended up on death row anyway -- and because of this and public outcry, he was quietly demoted and shuffled off to Inaba to be forgotten about. Naturally Adachi was more than a little miffed about this -- he was a damn good detective and always did everything wonderfully, so why should he be punished for doing something the prefecture was going to do anyway? It didn't help that once he arrived in Inaba, the other detectives shunned him as an outsider and his forced partner, Ryotaro Dojima, kept one eye trained on him like a hawk. Adachi was perfectly content with taking absolutely nothing seriously and getting out of the backwoods town at the first opportunity...

...and then a few days after he arrived in Inaba, a young teenager in a green jacket was found dangling from a TV antenna, dead.

At least things in the hick town were starting to get interesting, especially with the body coming back from the ME with the cause of death being inconclusive. It got even more interesting when the boy that found the body ended up dead, this time hanging from a telephone pole; Adachi had never had a serial murder case this interesting, even in the city!

...and then the second victim's girlfriend came in with "proof" that he knew who his killer was, and everything started to suck.

Saki Konishi had received several messages from the second victim the night before, the most disturbing of which revealed that he knew who murderer was, and that he was going to confront him -- stupid, of course, no wonder he ended up dead. Adachi's complete disregard for the proof that she provided pissed Saki off, and the two of them scuffled, with him trying to keep her from slapping him. Unfortunately, the fight tripped him up, and they fell toward the TV set in the interrogation room... and through it.

Needless to say, finding out that there was another world beyond the television screen was not in Adachi's plans for that day. The TV world was a dangerous place completely covered in fog, and although they met a friendly bear on the other side that helped Adachi see through the fog and told them that the two victims had been present in the TV, it did very little to help them when Shadows attacked. Outnumbered and cornered, it looked for certain that the two of them would be the next big headline on the news.

That's when Adachi heard the voice of his Persona, and by summoning Izanagi from the sea of the unconscious, he was able to save their lives.

Despite being able to do something ridiculously awesome completely unbelievable, Adachi still did not appreciate the fact that he was probably the only person that could solve the mystery behind the two murders they had on their hands. Even after Saki had faced her own Shadow and accepted herself to obtain her own Persona, he still didn't want to accept what was going on, leading to the first of the many verbal spats between the two of them. He especially did not appreciate the fact that Saki was insistent on being a part of solving the case, leading to a heated argument between the two of them once Yukiko Amagi was kidnapped. Adachi found it exceptionally ridiculous that she was in the TV, especially since he had just seen a broadcast of her at midnight the other night, something Saki did not believe. To prove it to her, they both watched their TVs alone at midnight, only to see pretty Princess Yukiko on her hunt for her stud muffin. It was completely and utterly ridiculous, and at first Adachi was perfectly content with Saki running off into the TV by herself, but morality eventually won out, and he followed her inside to help with saving Yukiko so the Amagi Inn heiress could confront and accept her true self and also obtain a Persona.

Adachi and Saki thought they had outwitted the murderer that time, but it couldn't be any farther from the truth. The next morning after rescuing Yukiko, as Saki left for school, she looked up to see her own brother's lifeless body dangling from a utility pole outside her home.

Even Adachi started taking the TV world and the murderer a little seriously after that, though considering his crappy attitude it did little to help. Saki was forced to be more of a leader, and when your real leader was a twenty-seven-year-old child and your only other member was more concerned about revenge for her dead friends, it made things difficult. On top of it, the three of them were being kept a close eye on by Naoto Shirogane, a private detective that had been called in by the prefecture office. Naoto suspected them of being responsible for the murders at first, especially Adachi, given the fact he had killed before and because of the company he was keeping.

It wasn't long before Naoto's appearance everywhere was a big talk in the town... and he was appearing on the Midnight Channel. Adachi actually tried to tell Naoto about the Midnight Channel, and that they suspected people that appeared on the channel were targeted by the murderer, but he dismissed his concerns. The night after, Naoto appeared on the Midnight Channel, though the promise of showing off a "life altering" procedure was almost too disturbing for Adachi and Saki to handle. Though reluctant, their little team jumped in the TV to help Naoto, discovering "he" was actually a "she" in the process, but still managing to succeed in helping her accept herself and return from the TV victorious...

...only for another teenager, Ai Ebihara, to be found dead, dangling from another telephone pole.

Before Ai's death, cryptic messages began to appear on public message boards, hinting as to who would be the next person kidnapped. There was another posting soon after, and between Adachi and Naoto, they were able to conclude that their murderer was actually two people. The police were able to trace the postings to Yasogami High School, but locating the computer that had led to the message revealed that someone had tampered with the computer's essential core files, rendering it inoperable, though not without leaving a taunting message for them. With the hint provided and the latest Midnight Channel broadcast, Naoto was able to conclude the next person to be kidnapped would be Kanji Tatsumi, a local delinquent. Despite their (hilarious) efforts to warn him, they weren't able to prevent his kidnapping. Like the others, they went after Kanji to save him, though traversing the Bath House had been a severe threat to Adachi's masculinity.

And the day after recovering Kanji, Kinshiro Morooka was found dead.

The police had managed to keep the teacher's death from drawing too much attention, though everyone knew exactly what happened. With the prefecture office calling for someone's head, the growing Investigation Team pulling him in different directions, and Dojima being the most hardass boss ever, Adachi found himself just not giving a damn about any of it. He especially took his ire out on the Team, and while questioning Rise Kujikawa, their next suspected victim, Dojima found out that his nephew knew about details that the police as a whole were just discovering, Adachi used it to his advantage. Adachi convinced his partner that Seito probably overheard Naoto talking about it while she was in school, which eventually led to her being censored from the case. The action made relations between Adachi and the rest of the group so strained, that Saki completely wrote him off. At the same time, it improved his relationship with Dojima, and his partner not only treated him to sushi, but also gave him an old red tie so he could look more professional at work.

What little team unity the Investigation Team had crumbled apart, and Adachi was happy to be rid of them... but he couldn't shake his unease over the whole situation, especially after seeing Rise near naked on the Midnight Channel. He didn't want to, but he went into the TV to find her anyway, with Teddie as his only companion. When he found Rise, he found the rest of the team as well, though they had already been defeated by her Shadow. Adachi cleaned up after them, though it was Teddie that ended up saving the day at the expense of getting turned into a grizzly pancake... and the resulting conversation as Rise accepted herself made the bear start to question himself and who he was, resulting in Teddie's Shadow appearing. With the others still down and out,Adachi and the still weak Rise were forced to fight back, saving the others in the process. After barely scraping by with their lives and pulling everyone from the television, Adachi confronted Saki alone, pointing out that she was just a kid, and she had more important things to worry about; studying and making a good life for herself was more important than getting herself killed. Naoto confronted Adachi just after, pointing out that his inability to take the situation seriously was what led to the situation in the TV. Adachi shot her down, using her insecurity about being viewed as nothing more than a child and an incompetent woman against her before he left.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to escape from the TV and the case, as Mayumi Yamano showed up dead that evening.

Yamano's case was different from all the others, however, something that Adachi was able to pick up on immediately. For one, she was left on top of a building, dangling from a fence that housed off the building's water tower. For another, there was a clear cause of death, unlike the other victims, and her time of death did not match up with the other victims either. He tried to insist to Dojima that it was a copycat killing, but with the prefecture office breathing down their necks, he had no choice but to accept it as part of the same case.

In the meantime, the Team was left to their own devices, trying to figure out what their reason was for continuing on with the case. Saki was still left confused, not sure if she was trying to find the murderer for Hanamura's sake, or her brother's. Yukiko knew she wanted revenge, but she was not certain if that was her only motivation. Even Naoto was not so sure if proving herself by solving the case was her real reason, and Kanji wasn't sure if he just kept going because the police would never be able to solve the case on their own. They agreed, however, that they did all have a reason, and they would need to keep going in order to find it.

Adachi, meanwhile, had completely distanced himself from the rest of the Team. While trapped dealing with the copycat murder, he found himself accidentally stumbling into Seiki Souzen, twin sister to Dojima's nephew, Seito. Surprisingly, even to Adachi, the two of them hit it off rather well, as she was everything he needed; she listed to what he had to say, and was not afraid to outright speak her mind, even going so far as to suggest he quit the police force if he was so unhappy in Inaba. For once, he had someone in his life that wasn't dragging him around everywhere and telling him what to do, and would instead ask if he wanted to go out somewhere. The fact that she was just as sarcastic and flippant as he could be helped, and Adachi found himself genuinely caring for her, bonding with someone for the first time in his life.

There was just a little problem with Seiki: she had died in a car accident when she was five.

Of course, Adachi had to find this out in the worst way possible. With Yamano's death giving them the most clues, the police were able to narrow in on Taro Namatame, Yamano's former lover, as their suspect. The police attempted to arrest Namatame, but a rookie jumped the gun, forcing them to close off Junes. Unfortunately, there were still people in the building, and Adachi knew Seiki was one of them. Determined to get her out of there, least Dojima kill him for knowing that his niece was in danger, he plowed in to capture Namatame alone. He found Saki first, and later Naoto, before he encountered Namatame. He chased after him, cornering him in the electronics department, where they accidentally found Seiki. Namatame grabbed her as a hostage, threatening to kill her, but she refused to be a cooperative hostage, and she slammed him backward into a TV... surprising everyone when the both of them fell through the screen.

Adachi didn't even hesitate; he jumped into the TV after them, despite Saki and Naoto yelling at him to wait. He woke in what looked like the halls of a court house, only the walls and floor were bleeding, and it was getting steadily worse the more he went inside. At the end of it, Namatame was still holding Seiki hostage, his Shadow already taunting him for becoming a murderer, and pointing out that he would take the blame for everything and never see the light of day again. Of course, Namatame refused to accept what his Shadow was saying, and he went berserk. Adachi protected Seiki through the battle, using Izanagi better than he had ever been able to, but it wasn't enough. Eventually, the others showed up along with Teddie, who was still looking a little flat, and Namatame's Shadow was easily defeated.

Unlike the others, however, Namatame was unable to accept himself, and his true self just faded away. Adachi tried to arrest him, but Naoto kept interrupting him, until she had to shout at him that the girl he risked his neck to save wasn't who he thought she was. Seiki pulled herself away from Adachi then, saying that Namatame was a poor soul that got lost in the shuffle of what was meant to be. She turned to Adachi then, revealing her secret to him. Seiki wanted to be sad that she had to keep herself from him... but she had also genuinely enjoyed their time together, however fleeting it was. She died again then before his eyes, fading away to bones before crumpling into dust...

...and Adachi broke.

It was the first time in his life someone accepted him for who he really was, who didn't push him around, and encouraged him to do whatever it was he wanted to do... and it wasn't even real. It made him sick, to the point where he didn't even want to get up, no matter how much the others kept telling him to stop. He hated everything; this world, the people, everything... and at that moment, his hate came out of him, his Persona regressing into his Shadow, spilling everything about the kind of person he really was. He was a killer, and he didn't give a damn about murdering someone that deserved it; hell, he'd probably be the one murdering people if he could. He was pretty sure that bitch Yamano deserved it; he knew Saki definitely deserved it, and the thought to just kick her into a TV had occurred to him so many times. Inaba was shit, the World was shit; the Shadows were so much better, that it probably would have been better if the TV world just took over everything.

Adachi couldn't find it in himself to disagree with his Shadow until he spouted that, saying the words of pain. The resulting fight was brutal for the rest of the Investigation Team, until it was left to just Adachi and Saki. Adachi threw himself before her, demanding that his Shadow leave her alone and take it out on him. His Shadow was more than happy to oblige, hitting him with every elemental spell and leaving him to die. His consciousness was pulled drifting of into what he thought was death...

...and right into a very heavy book.

At that moment, he was (rudely) introduced to the Velvet Room, Igor, and his new attendant, a young blue haired man named Michael, whom obviously did not like him very much. It was there he learned that his power was the Wild Card, and his stubbornness and inability to accept his destiny had prevented them from even being able to reach out to him. However, the fact that he had opened himself up to at least one person in his life had served as the key to unlocking the world around him, and he had at least one Social Link that would stick by him, even transcending Death itself.

Adachi returned to the real world after that, pulling himself up to his feet... and switching Arcana for the first time, using the Death Arcana he received through his social bond with Seiki to bring out the White Rider Persona and beat down his own Shadow. With the battle won, Adachi threw himself onto his Shadow, finally accepting the fact that he really was a horrible, horrible person that didn't care about a damn thing and was only concerned about himself... until that suddenly all changed because of the investigation, and he didn't know what the hell he was supposed to do with himself now. Most importantly though was how much he hated the person he had become, and with that small confession, Izanagi returned to Adachi... and Adachi promptly passed out.

It took a long time for Adachi to recover from that, both physically and mentally. In the time that followed, he had made certain that Namatame's story would be heard, so that he would not be blamed for all of the murders so far. He started to form bonds with his team, coming to learn that Kanji wasn't just a big delinquent, that Rise was more than just a fake smile and Yukiko had a sense of humor that could lead to her laughing like a hyena. Saki had been genuinely scared and worried for him, and nearly beat him up in his hospital bed when he finally woke up. Teddie left the TV world, and came to live in Adachi's closet, eventually getting a job as the Junes mascot and leading them to explain him as "Adachi's cousin", with him even allowing Teddie to use his last name so he could work. He even got dragged into going on the school's cultural trip as "protection", leaving him to deal with a teacher that was far too inappropriately attracted to him.

Things were going well, and his group was coming back together again finally, until another posting from the murderer pointed them to a nurse at the local hospital. Figuring out who the next target was was easy for him; any time they had brought someone out of the TV world, they always brought them to the hospital, and had always gotten the same nurse. Adachi had talked with her a few times and knew a little bit about her, so when Sayoko Uehara suddenly disappeared, he knew exactly where to look.

Sayoko's kidnapping, as unsettling as the Dollhouse her mind created and as hard as it was to get her to accept herself, was actually a huge break in the case for the Investigation Team, mostly because it broke the pattern; it proved that whomever was murdering these people was watching them and was starting to get scared. Even as they tried to cover up the failed attempt with Eri Minami's death not that long after, the clues were starting to pull together: their main suspect was a teenager that was taking advantage of the Midnight Channel to distract them, letting them go save the people on there while he killed whomever he wanted. Their suspect also must have had close ties to the two adults in the case not related to Yasogami High, but as of yet, they could not find that common tie. The second suspect likely did not know he was putting people's lives in danger, but they had yet to discover any additional information on him.

For awhile after Sayoko's kidnapping and Minami's death, things fell quiet in the case once again. Adachi was busied himself with his relations with his team, mending his social bonds and forming friendships, with even Naoto eventually accepting him. The case picked up once again when the form of a little girl appeared on the Midnight Channel, but the Team could not figure out who the child was. Naoto eventually figured it out... but by the time she did, it was too late.

Adachi was working late with Dojima one night, when a call came in from Seito: a friend had invited himself over, the captain of his basketball team... and next thing he knew he was being attacked. He stayed conscious long enough to see his friend and Nanako falling into the TV in the room before he passed out. Dojima flipped out, heading straight home with Adachi struggling to keep up with him. By the time he caught up, Dojima was practically trying to beat his way through the television set, and Adachi grabbed him, trying to pull him away... only to lose his grip as Dojima fell through the TV.

...oops?

The Investigation Team went into the TV again, ending up in a storybook version of Heaven. They found Dojima first, of course, and helped him face his true self (and Adachi earned himself a punch to the back of the head for keeping a secret like this from his partner for so long). Once Dojima recovered, they headed back in to save Nanako, finding her being held by Kou Ichijou deep inside of Heaven. Kou was flipping out, insisting that he was doing everything he could to help people, but they just kept dying. He was determined to "save" Nanako though... and the Shadows around the area responded to Kou's unstable emotions, fusing with him and turning him into a massive monster. One epic battle later, Nanako was saved and the Shadows were driven back... but Nanako was badly hurt during the battle, forcing the group to haul out of the TV and to the hospital as quickly as possible.

The next day, Shu Nakajima was found dead, the last of the murder victims...

Nanako eventually (temporarily) died from her injuries, and Dojima really lost it, almost strangling Kou in the process. After all, it was obvious he was the killer, and the prefecture was just going to have him killed anyway. Adachi stopped him, punching Dojima as hard as he could; he refused to let his partner make the same mistake he did, not when it came to Nanako -- he knew she wouldn't want her father to murder someone in cold blood. Besides, the case did not add up to him; why would Kou think he was saving people? Why would the Midnight Channel show certain people, people they were ultimately able to save, and not those they had not been able to? For Adachi, Kou was clearly not the murderer, but definitely one of their suspects. When Kou was calmer, after Nanako had been revived, he confirmed it, saying that he only started putting people in the TV after the first two victims died, truly believing that he was helping rather than harming people.

With that fact known, the Investigation Team had very little new clues, and what was more, the fog seemed to be increasing in Inaba, as if responding to the fact that the case had become even murkier. Dissatisfied with what was going on, Adachi started back at the beginning, questioning about what the first victim had been doing before she died. Yukiko could answer that; Satonaka Chie had been going to Junes, though she could not remember why. Obviously while there, she had been thrown into a TV; and the second victim's evidence had to be a security tape of the electronics department -- obviously, as Hanamura Yosuke would have access to that as the manager's son. He said he hid the evidence in the last message he sent to Saki, but where?

Adachi and Saki went to speak with Mr. Hanamura, asking him where Yosuke would hide something important. The Junes manager revealed that when Yosuke was younger, he used to hide his favorite toys in his office, especially when he did something wrong and he knew his mother would take them away. With his permission, the two of them searched the manager's office at Junes, and located the missing security tape...

...and on the tape was Seito Souzen, letting Chie fall into a TV.

Once that was seen, everything started to fall into place. The Team headed immediately for the hospital, knowing exactly what any scared murderer would do, but they were too late; Seito had already shoved Kou back into the TV. The group confronted him, ending with Seito fleeing into the TV himself to avoid being arrested for his crimes, and Adachi and party followed in soon after.

The dungeon they found themselves in was Inaba completely obliterated... at least at first. As they progressed through the place, it was like traveling through his twisted unconscious, gradually dissolving into more and more empty, disturbing imagery. What was more, Seito seemed to have some kind of control over the Shadows around them, throwing wave after wave at them and forcing them to break off into groups to hold them back, until it was Adachi alone that was left to confront him. The resulting battle revealed just how twisted the boy was; he admitted that Chie was a complete accident, and he hadn't intended to kill her, but that sudden spark of power he had over another person escalated, making him feel like his life actually had a purpose for the first time since his twin sister died.

The two of them clashed violently, Adachi's Izanagi against Seito's Magatsu Izanagi, while the two of them fought physically with their own swords. Eventually, Seito got his hands on Adachi's gun, shooting him in the leg to disable him, and nearly shooting him in the head. Adachi used Izanagi then to attack Seito directly, knocking him away and allowing him to focus on his Persona, literally ripping Magatsu Izanagi apart and knocking Seito out for the count... sort of.

Seito was injured, but not out; he welcomed the Shadows into himself, absorbing their power and allowing Ameno Sagiri to emerge from within him. Everyone managed to rejoin Adachi at that moment, though they were all excessively worn out and the group did not last long at all. When it seemed like they were all going to die, Adachi found himself pulled into the Velvet Room again, only Igor and Michael were not there. Seito was... or at least, an attendant that looked like him. After forcing Adachi into a Persona battle that he just barely won, this person introduced himself as Gabriel, and revealed that he was a "Seito" from another world, one in which Adachi had been the murderer, and he had covered for him, becoming his accomplice. That was, until the Adachi he knew felt he was too much of a liability, and used the TV world to kill him. Obviously, after everything he had been through, the news that he could have been just as horrible as Seito sent Adachi's head spinning, but Gabriel assuaged his fears, telling him that he was very grateful for the chance to meet him however fleeting it may have been, as there really was a spark of hope in an "Adachi", a part of him that was worth truly believing in, no matter how dim it may have been.

Armed with that knowledge, Adachi returned to the real world and forced himself to move despite the overwhelming amount of pain he was in and the fog Ameno Sagiri was pouring into the area, forcing the human world and the TV world to merge together. He used his Personae to heal the others, and by combining their strength into the Judgement Arcana, the Investigation Team was able to defeat the God of Fog and release Seito from within.

With Seito and Kou arrested and the fog lifted from Inaba, the sleepy backwoods town returned to peaceful days once again. Adachi had been taking his job much more seriously, and now with Dojima, the two of them seemed to work together like real partners. Saki had been promoted in Junes, taking on Yosuke's old position, and also serving as a liaison between Junes and the Shopping District, encouraging the two to work together to better the community. Yukiko, finally laying to rest her need for revenge for Chie's death, accepted her role as the next manager of her family's inn, discovering that she couldn't really bear the thought of leaving it behind forever. Naoto decided to stay in Inaba, and continuing to attend Yasogami High as a freshman. Kanji finally gave in to his love for "cute shit", starting to make knitted animals for his mother's shop. Rise had a tough time moving on; she had started dating Seito not long after she had been rescued from the TV, and fighting against him had been hard for her. However, she decided that if she survived that and the heartbreak that came with it, she could take that energy and pour it back into her idol career. Teddie decided to stay in the human world with everyone, and continued to live in Adachi's apartment while working as the Junes mascot (and occasionally popping in at school, since he found it fascinating). Sayoko rediscovered why she had wanted to be a nurse during their adventures together, and dedicated herself more and more to her job. Despite the fact they were all busy with their lives, the Investigation Team stayed close to one another, spending any free time they had as well as Christmas together.

In March of the next year, Adachi's world was shaken up again: a letter was received from the prefecture office, congratulating him for his service in the year since being transferred to Inaba, and offering him back his old position in the Iwatodai Police Department. Adachi wanted to be thrilled as he said he'd accept it... but really, he couldn't bring himself to be excited about it. Maybe before everything had happened, but now...? And what was more, something about the case was still bothering him: the TV world. When he arrived in Inaba, he could enter the TVs, something he could not do when he lived in the city. How did he gain that ability? He doubted it was just because he came into Inaba -- if that were the case, then everyone that came into town could do the same. Kou had told them after they rescued him the second time that he never could before, and suddenly could, so that debunked that theory anyway.

It was the day before Adachi was to leave for the city that he brought it up to the rest of the Team, and they put their heads together, trying to help him retrace his steps that first day in Inaba. All he could think of was arriving in town and making it to his crappy little apartment, before reporting into work the next day; nothing else stood out. Since the Midnight Channel and being able to enter the TVs seemed at least somewhat related, the group went their separate ways, deciding to ask around town to see if they could find the source of the Midnight Channel rumor. As Adachi was walking down the Shopping District main street, he thought he caught a glimpse of Seiki, and followed it to the Moel Gas Station... and that's when he remembered that his first day in Inaba hadn't gone quite like he thought he remembered.

That first day, he had gotten gas for that embarrassing old clunker of his. The muffler had nearly fallen off again while he was driving, and he was so frustrated, he went to get a coffee without actually paying much attention to the attendant on duty. When he got back, the muffler had been forced on -- it had never fallen off again after that -- and the attendant had struck up a conversation with him while gassing up his car, after which he had felt pretty ill...

As if in response to his realization, it suddenly started to rain, forcing him under the hood of the station, where he found the gas station attendant again. "He" reminded him (rather painfully!) that they had shaken hands, and "he" had forced Adachi's power to awaken, not that "he" needed to, seeing as Adachi had to face his true self in order to make any progress anyway. The gas station attendant shed their disguise then, revealing herself as Izanami, mother goddess of Japan and ruler of her dead. She told Adachi that not only was Ameno Sagiri was an aspect of herself that she created long ago, but that Seiki Souzen was as well. The Souzen twins were meant to be Izanagi and Izanami reborn, a means to make their story finally end happily, but fate dealt Seiki a cruel hand, and Seito also suffered the consequences. Because of this, Izanami felt it her responsibility to see what mankind really wanted with their lives, and she selected a number of representatives to help her decide. Adachi somehow ended up as her Hope representative, much to her surprise, but it was Seito's Emptiness and Kou's Despair that had the most severe impact; it made her come to the conclusion that humanity longed for nothing but to lose themselves in the fog of lies. Adachi told her no, that wasn't what humanity wanted; yeah, life sucked and the world was full of shit, but he knew now that there were bright patches that made living worthwhile. Izanami did not believe him, and instead challenged him to prove her wrong.

Adachi could not bring himself to get the others involved -- they had all gone through enough already, and considering how they had all almost died against just an aspect of Izanami, he wasn't about to ask them all to throw themselves in another dangerous situation like that. Unfortunately, Naoto had already gathered everyone together at Junes: her and Saki had come to the same conclusion as Adachi, and although they did not see the gas station attendant, questioning the elderly couple that owned the station revealed they had never hired anyone to pump the gas. Adachi filled in the blanks, trying to convince them to stay out of it with no success; they were a Team, and whether he wanted to or not, they were going to stick together.

The Investigation Team headed into the TV world one last time, finding themselves in Yomotsu Hirasaka, something very familiar to Adachi, as he had dreamed about being in this place after shaking Izanami's hand. At the end of the path to Yomi was the goddess herself, and as Adachi expected, the resulting battle was brutal. They started out holding their own well enough, but the more they attacked, the stronger she seemed to get... until she called on the hands of death themselves, dragging each of them to death one by one until only Adachi was left... and he too was eventually dragged into darkness.

As Adachi felt death looming, he could hear the voices of everyone that he had come to welcome in his heart; all of his social links banded together, calling out to him, begging him to get back up. Even Seito was there, quietly asking him to end this pointless excuse for his existence, so that they may all get on with their lives, beyond the influence of gods and goddesses. Their voices gave him the strength to get back up... and suddenly Michael was there. He told him that though he had no expectations for Adachi, he had come so far in such a short amount of time; seeing someone grow like that made it worth the sacrifices he had made to save the world when he was still a human being. He gave him the Orb of Sight, a crystal of power that was Adachi's inner strength and determination given form, and would shine on all truths and dispel all lies.

Adachi used it immediately, returning to reality, where Izanami's grotesque true form was waiting for him. She tried to drag him into death again, but her hands were unable to touch him. She used spell after spell on him, but that could not harm him either. He told her there was no way she would be able to touch him again, because he had the power of his entire World behind him. With that, he combined the power of all his Social Links, creating the World Arcana and giving rise to Izanagi-no-Okami, obliterating Izanami with the power of Myriad Truths and returning the world inside of the TV to its true form.

The next day, Adachi was ready to leave Inaba for good, set to take the train to his old apartment in the city, while his motorcycle would be sent up later. He got on the train... and as it pulled away, the others calling their tearful goodbyes after it, he had gotten off on the other side of the train. He couldn't leave, not after realizing how bright his World really was. The Investigation Team stayed together in the end, everyone piling on Adachi in a massive group hug.

Peace does not last for long, especially for Adachi and Dojima. Just before Golden Week, the group in Inaba received the news they had known they would hear eventually, but had been dreading it all the same: Seito did not protest against the charges filed against him, and was scheduled to be executed. As one of the investigators on the case, Adachi was obligated to be a witness, and viewing the execution affects him so badly that he starts to have horrific nightmares. This is all made even worse when the Midnight Channel starts up again, only instead of showing people that are about to be murdered, it shows Adachi and his team participating in the P-1 Grand Prix, an end all, be all tournament against each other.

Naturally, the Investigation Team goes to look into it, though Dojima stays behind to fend off questions from Kurosawa regarding the events of the following year. Inside, the group finds themselves separated, though it doesn't last for long. As they encounter each other, they are forced into a semi-illusion, each one of them hearing things the other isn't saying. The end result leads to them being forced to fight each other.

During the Grand Prix, Adachi takes more of a backseat during the events, while Yukiko is the one that is more focused around helping Labrys. That isn't to say he doesn't get his own fair share of a beat down, as he ends up being smacked around for awhile by Akihiko Sanada, before the illusion ends and he finds out about Iwatodai, the Shadow Ops, and the reason why they're there: to find the missing Anti-Shadow weapon, Labrys. He also encounters Theodore, who was woefully neglecting his duties as a Velvet Room attendant. When Theo finds out that he's a guest of Michael's, he proceeds to essentially wipe the floor with Adachi's face just to see if he can hold his own well enough.

In the end, Labrys is saved, and despite Mitsuru demanding that Adachi's team not get involved with the events that lead to her being stuck in the television, the group meets up to discuss their next move in this new investigation anyway. They don't have to wonder about who kidnapped Labrys for long, as that very night the Midnight Channel shows the P-1 Grand Prix Climax event, the ultimate tournament for the end of the world. Before any of them can process what the hell that could possibly mean, the power dies, and a red fog envelops the town as a tower similar to Tartarus appears in place of Yasogami High School.

Adachi and Teddie head out together in this fog covered version of Inaba, and they find out immediately that their "Shadows" are out and about, ready to pick a fight with all of them. Of course, they're not the real Shadows -- they accepted themselves last year, and still have their Personae, after all. The Shadows do not even try to hide this fact, and they're noticably weaker than their real selves to boot. Still, it's hard for the others to fight, as the Shadows went after the groups that would have the most impact. For example, Shadow Dojima went after Adachi and Teddie, while Shadow Adachi went after Dojima, Shadow Teddie attacked Rise, ect. It eventually takes the Shadow Ops Reserve Team showing up to save the day, with Shinjiro coming to Adachi's aid.

Through the Reserve Team, the Investigation Team learns that Mitsuru and company were kidnapped, and Adachi and company find out who almost immediately when they're confronted by Sho Minazuki. Sho is more than happy to show off his abilities, though Dojima is having none of his shit, and proceeds to force himself through his ability to freeze their movements, scaring Sho off. They make it into the tower, where Adachi sees his nightmares given life: Seito, alive, his soul forced into a collection of Shadows for a body. Seito shows a reluctance to fight and leaves, and the group pursues him only to run into Sho again.

The resulting confrontation does little to slow down the coming end of the world, and both the Investigation Team and the Shadow Ops work together to fight back the tide of Shadows that follows, allowing Adachi and Labrys to go on ahead. Labrys is eventually stopped by a Shadow Aigis, leaving Adachi to go off alone into a confrontation against Seito. Only what looks like the rematch of the century is brought to an immediate halt as instead Seito begs Adachi to let him die, that he never wanted to be forced back into life, not to mention the half life he has with his soul acting as the glue for a bunch of Shadows. Sho tries to stop him, but Adachi manages to honor Seito's request, and he passes on his Persona, Magatsu Izanagi, to Adachi before his soul finally departs.

Sho doesn't take part of his plans being foiled well, but before he can finish beating the hell out of Adachi, Labrys leaps in and smacks him down. With Sho defeated, everything looks all well and good... until the true puppet master, Hi no Kagutsuchi, appears. Using his new Persona, Adachi manages a fusion summon like Michael used to do, summoning Izanagi and Magatsu Izanagi at once to strike down Kagutsuchi, and while the god is heavily damaged, it's not enough. The others start to trickle in one by one, striking out at the fire god and both the Investigation Team and the Shadow Ops finish it off together.

Personality: As far as personality is concerned, while Adachi can still be a jerk, because he's developed differently, there's more focus on his "nice guy" side.

To understand the person Adachi became, knowing where he comes from is important. He had it drilled into his head at a young age that all he needed to do was study to get everything he wanted. If he studied, that meant he would get into the good college and a good job, he would find a good wife and raise a good family. Adachi did exactly that; he studied relentlessly, foregoing social bonds in favor of focusing on his studies. If he even had anyone he bonded with, it was brief and ended quickly. He passed high school and college with flying colors, and got the perfect job he wanted, until he screwed it up and was cast aside. That embittered him, making him become the man we see at the start of both this AU and canon.

On the outside, Adachi is bright and upbeat, and quite a bit absent minded. He has a tendency to be overly mouthy about certain things, and this often leads to pain for him. He's instinctively submissive, and seems to be able to know what people want to hear from him and deliver (or not) accordingly. He is also adept at making himself unassuming, often using his goofy actions to make others dismiss him. After all, who would think that a guy that acted as incompetent as he did was actually an elite detective? Despite this, he also has a tendency to whine and complain; one of his favorites before he got an attitude adjustment being that he was the only guy around all these teenaged girls (Kanji included in that statement). He has an exceptionally high self preservation instinct despite his inability to watch his mouth at times, and when it looks like things are not going in his favor, he'll often act dumb and take the first chance he has to get out of a situation. This also applies to the TV world, where he initially preferred to stay back and let the others do most of the work when it came to fighting shadows.

On the inside, he's something completely different. Adachi is actually deserving of his status as an elite detective; he is very smart and very attentive to detail, to the point where possibly only Seito or a canon version of the protagonist could rival him. A good example of this is the internet postings, and how he immediately was able to tell they were coming from two different sources. Also there was the Mayumi Yamano case; he immediately picks up on the fact that her murder was entirely different from the others (and this corresponds with canon with the case of Morooka; he even comments later that Kubo did a poor job of mimicking the crime scene). He just does not like showing that he's this intelligent; he prefers to be seen as a clown, because what is the point of showing how good he is when he's already been cast aside once before? At least, that was his excuse at first; after confronting his Shadow, this act slowly starts to disappear, until he only does it just among friends for laughs, or to have people underestimate him.

Despite confronting his Shadow and accepting the fact that he's a pretty crappy individual, he still has a bad attitude over certain things. While he's more accepting of his party and opens himself to others more, he still complains about the effort he has to put into it, and about how sometimes he just can't wrapt his head around some people (trying to bond with Naoto in particular got the majority of these complaints). He still thinks the world is full of shit and many of the people in it are just there to give him a hard time. While he eventually comes to accept Inaba, he still has trouble adapting to country life, and often grumbles about how almost everything closes before eight. However, despite all his complaining, he does acknowledge that there are some bright patches in his life now, and he wouldn't give them up for anything.

At the start of his Fool's journey, Adachi was highly unmotivated. He hated and even resented that he was transferred to Inaba, refusing to take responsibility for the fact that he had essentially done it to himself. He also didn't want to do anything to change it, preferring to sit on his ass and act like the clown while waiting for the time he would be transferred back to the city, never mind that it would never happen with an attitude like that. Even when things got worse with the murders, he just did not care. As time passes, however, he first acknowledges that no one in the city would ever want him back, and then later the truth behind why he was transferred. He becomes almost too hard on himself over the event, and even points out that Dojima would not want to be a murderer like him when it came to dealing with Kou.

After learning from Gabriel -- and from her ranting as he defeated her, Izanami as well -- that there are other versions of him in the multiverse that made the wrong choice, that had no hope, he's determined to stick to his path. He wants to prove that just because every other version of "him" failed and traveled a dark road, doesn't mean that he has to. He's come to highly appreciate his position as a detective, and really, truly wants to protect the innocent from harm, even if Inaba does not see that much action normally. He does not regret his choice to stay in Inaba, and as of the "end game", he is quite content with his life. He has a partner that he knows has his back, a number of really good (if young) friends, and maybe a little bit of a romantic interest in a certain devil nurse. All in all, life is good, and he's happy with that.
Powers/Abilities:
Wild Card
Adachi's unique ability is the "Wild Card"; most people who awaken the power of their Persona only have one, but he has several, each one corresponding to an Arcana. These Arcana, and the Personae they call upon, each represent a bond that Adachi as forged with another person. These bonds, or Social Links, not only give Adachi added strength when it comes to Persona summoning, but also help him complete his World and grow as a human being. A Social Link cannot be formed just by talking to someone once. Adachi needs to make a conscious effort to understand the person, or the person needs to make an effort to reach out to him, before a link can be formed. He's not exactly the best at doing this, and some links take longer than others (NAOTO), but if he's determined enough, he can manage well.
Personae
Personae reside in the sea of the unconscious, and are a part of Adachi's very soul. When he summons them, he is literally bringing forth a piece of himself. That's why, when his Persona is injured, he can also feel its pain, though he does not suffer any physical injury. Adachi's natural Arcana is The Fool, with the potential to become The World in desperate situations. As the Fool/World, his natural Persona is Izanagi/Izanagi-no-Okami; the rest of his Persona list can be found here.

To keep Adachi from being too powerful all at once, he would need to form Social Links in game before he could access the Persona of the same Arcana. As such, he would only have access to Izanagi/Izanagi-no-Okami in the beginning.
Items on your character:
- Sword and Sheath: A katana and sheath given to him by Saki. It's a "work of art" made by Daidara.
- Detective's Badge: Adachi's police ID and gold shield.
- Stained Ribbon: A red, curry stained ribbon. Looks like it was part of a girl's uniform.
- Clothes: Adachi's custom fitted suit, along with the red tie Dojima gave him after he lost his old one.