Well folks, this is it. The final chapter. However, stay tuned. I have an exciting announcement at the end of the chapter I think you're gonna like. Oh yeah, and I will be making one more reference to NeoKenshin's Naruto story (again, I have his permission). Seriously, check it out, it's awesome.

Disclaimer: I don't own Persona 4 or Death Note. Or Naruto for that matter.

Last time: With Adachi captured, the gang relaxes at the school ski trip. Later, each pair of lovers withing the gang finally goes all the way in their relationships. As Igor and Margaret transport a mysterious individual to an unknown location in the Velvet Room, the gang celebrates Christmas together, confident their trials are over at last.

Chapter 22: World

Three months had passed. Yu held the small bauble he had gotten from Igor in his hand. Apparently, it was crafted by the shards created by all his Social Links. Yosuke, Yukiko, Margaret, Kanji, Ryotaro, Rise, Chie, Nanako, Kyuubi, Naoto, Kou, Naoki, Hisano, Eri, Sayoko, Shu, Teddie, Ai, Yumi, Light, and Labrys. The friendships he forged with these people had created a magical talisman known as the Orb of Clarity. According to Igor, it would be necessary to finally solve this mystery. 'But what is there to solve,' Yu thought, 'We caught Adachi. We know he's the killer. What could possibly be left?' At that moment, Dojima walked into the house. "Yu. There's a letter for you. It's from Adachi." Yu looked confused, but took the letter anyway. As soon as he read it, he called Light on his cell phone. "Get the gang together," he said, "This case is still far from over."

"Narukami. I realize that it's been almost three months since I was arrested and convicted. Lucky me, I only got second-degree murder, so the worst I had to look forward to was life without parole. But I digress. When I said you knew everything, I was wrong. I realized after a while that there was one thing you missed. It seems you, me, Light, and Namatame all the strange ability to pass through the TVs without a Persona. You and I seemed to have our Personae already for whatever reason, but it seems Light and possibly Namatame needed to get theirs the normal way. When I thought about this I realized something, you never asked me where this power came from in the first place. At the time I had no idea, but I thought about it. I remember the day I first got transferred here, I shook the hand of the first person I ran into. I remember afterwards I felt slightly nauseous. I believe the person who shook my hand gave me the power to enter the TVs. And I believe that same person also gave it to Light, Namatame, and yourself. Unfortunately what with everything that's happened, I've forgotten who that person was. Yu, find that person and you uncover the entire truth. Signed, Tohru Adachi."

Yu finished reading the letter to the gang and said, "Light, do you remember the series of events between when you first came to Inaba to when you got your Persona?" Light nodded. "After I got off the train, I met with Dojima and Adachi. Then Adachi started driving me to his house, but had to stop at the gas station to use the restroom. The attendant there talked with me about the Midnight Channel and shook my hand as I got back in Adachi's car." Yu nodded. "It was a similar story with me. I had met with Dojima and Nanako and had to stop at the same gas station when Nanako needed to use the restroom. I remember Nanako mentioning afterwards that I looked a little carsick." Labrys looked confused. "But how can a simple gas station attendant give anyone that kind of power?" "I don't know," Yu said, "But I intend to find out."

As Yu walked up to the attendant, he felt the Orb of Clarity pulse in his pocket. Something told him he was on the right track. The attendant saw Yu and waved at him. "Hey there," he said, "I heard you and your nine friends solved the case." Yu narrowed his eyes. "How do you know how many people are in my group? It was never mentioned in the news." Before the attendant could answer, Light pulled out the Orb of Clarity. The attendant smiled, and suddenly his eyes turned yellow. "I see," he said in a dual voice that sounded both male and female, "So you have the power to cast aside illusions." The attendant suddenly vanished as the street became covered in fog. Yu looked around, and saw a young woman wearing a white gown floating in midair. As Yu looked closer, he saw the woman had the attendant's face.

"'I never imagined you would get this far,'" the woman said, "'Allow me to introduce myself. I am Izanami. I have come to this little town drawn to the illusions people have created in their own minds. To strengthen this untapped power in hopes of breaking free of my curse, I selected certain outsiders hoping to make them my champions. Their purpose would be to sacrifice certain individuals who couldn't see their true selves and use their despair to feed the illusions and cover the town of fog. However, for whatever reason, you and the one known as Light chose instead to protect those people. To top it off, you somehow gained the power to control more than one Persona. I do not intend to stop yet, but I am a fair goddess. I will give you and your friends one chance to defeat me. We'll see if your power can stand before mine.'" And with that, Izanami vanished.

Inside the TV world, Yu explained the whole situation to the gang. "So all this time it was Izanami," Light said, "Now things start to make sense. She must have the one behind everything. She incapacitated Kyuubi, took over the world Teddie made, created Ameno-Sagiri to start spreading the fog, and used Adachi as a puppet to do her dirty work." Rise nodded. "So if we can defeat her, everything goes back to normal." "Then what are we waiting for," Teddie said, "I owe that hag a hundred slashes and bear bites for ruining my world." He sniffed around. "Well, she certainly isn't trying to hide. She's left us a very obvious trail to follow." He led the gang to Izanami's location.

Izanami's hideout looked like an inverted world, with the sky on the ground and buildings in the air. The path ahead was straight, and looked almost like an old Japanese bridge. Standing in the way were two creatures. The first looked like a blue minotaur with three horns and an upside-down mask for a face. The other looked like a table with hands on the bottoms of its table legs and faces on either side of its table cloth, topped with a goblet, a scepter, and an egg. "Neo Minotaur and Smiling Table," Rise said, "Looks like Izanami's forces are on their last legs." The Neo Minotaur bellowed and charged at the gang. "Oh no you don't," Kanji said, "Primal Force!" Rokuten Maoh swung his flame sword and smashed it into the minotaur, sending it sprawling.

Light glared at the Smiling Table and called out, "Mamudoon!" Nobunaga charged a ball of pure darkness on the tip of his sword and threw it at the table, knocking it out. With both of them sprawled on the ground, Chie called out, "God's Hand!" Suzuka raised her hand in the air and caused a giant fist to manifest and slam into the fallen shadows, destroying them. "That's that," Light said, "Now let's hurry up and find Izanami." They kept running down the bridge as Yu thought, 'That was way too easy. It's almost like they weren't even trying. Even with the others having newly evolved Personae, you'd think the guardian shadows would still be a little challenging. Is Izanami trying to lure us into false sense of security?'

When the gang reached Izanami, she smiled. "'So you have arrived. But no matter how long you long fight, the truth will always elude you. So now it's time for you to be destroyed.'" "Destroy this," Yosuke said, "Susano-o! Magarudyne!" Susano-o caused his buzz-saw to spin at a rapid pace conjuring a massive tornado. "Nobunaga Oda!," Light called out, "Mamudoon!" Nobunaga pointed his sword at Izanami and generated the orb of darkness. "Suzuka Gongen!," Chie said, "God's Hand!" Suzuka conjured the giant fist and raised it over Izanami. "Amaterasu!," Yukiko said, "Maragidyne!" Amaterasu unsheathed her katana and set it on fire. "Rokuten Maoh!," Kanji said, "Maziodyne!" Rokuten raised his flame sword above him and conjured a lightning bolt that struck the sword. He then pointed the sword at Izanami.

"Go Kamui!," Teddie said, "Mabufudyne!" Kamui's claws became solid icicles, which he pointed at his target. "Yamato-Takeru!," Naoto said, "Mahamaon!" Yamato-Takeru placed her finger on the hilt of her katana and drew toward the tip, covering the blade in light. "Hippolyta!," Labrys said, "Megidolaon!" The tip of Hippolyta's spear shone with a holy light. The eight attacks struck Izanami at once, kicking up a large cloud of dust. But when the dust settled, Izanami didn't even look fazed. "'I'll admit your power is great,'" she said, "'But the power I have is stronger still. For it is the combined will of the people of this world. Now, suffer my Thousand Curses!'" She extended her arm, and a dark portal appeared under Rise.

As Rise was pulled into the portal, Light quickly ran over to her yelling, "Hang on Rise!" He tried to pull her out, but then the portal expanded and started to draw him in as well. "Light! Rise!," Yu called out in horror. The gang could do little but watch as the two of them were lost to the darkness. Suddenly more portals appeared under the others. Yu stared wide-eyed as the gang struggled against the darkness trying to draw them in. Labrys and Kanji seemed to be doing the best job, but they were sucked in all the same. Yukiko's eyes met Yu's, and she shed a single tear before she too was lost. Izanami laughed darkly. "'Now it's your turn!'" Yu braced himself as the dark portal appeared beneath him. Just then, however, everything went pure white.

Yu awoke to find himself in the center of a circle of stone monoliths. As he looked around, he saw there were twenty-one of them total. As Yu looked around, he saw a boy his age standing in front of one of the monoliths. He wore a black and orange jumpsuit, and had spiky blonde hair. The whisker-like marks on his face and wide grin made him look very familiar. "Do I... Know you?," Yu asked. The boy grinned, and nine fox tails appeared behind him. Yu gasped in recognition. "Kyuubi!" "Nice to see you too," Kyuubi said, "Looks like you're in a bind." Yu nodded sadly. "Izanami took all my friends from me." Kyuubi grinned. "Are you sure about that? That woman dabbles in illusions. Her Thousand Curses technique is actually a thousand lies. What you need to fight her is the truth. And not just one truth, but ten-thousand truths."

"But where can I find something like that?," Yu said. Kyuubi smiled. "You've had it all along. The bonds you've made along this journey have given you this power, even as it restored my own." He snapped his fingers, and the monolith behind him turned into the Hermit card. Then each of the other monoliths turned into the other Arcana, and images of the people Yu had made a Social Link with appeared before their respective Arcana. "Thank to you," Kyuubi said, "These people have managed to overcome the problems in their lives. You've seen the world from the eyes of twenty-one people. Izanami has only seen through the eyes of one person." Yu nodded. "Adachi."

"That's right," Kyuubi said, "This whole year has been a journey. And just like with every journey, it has to start at the beginning." An image of the Fool appeared beneath Yu's feet. "I see. It all started with me, and fate led me to each person I needed to meet." Kyuubi nodded. "Izanami only saw you meet and befriend twenty-one people, so she thinks your power is incomplete. But don't forget you have something that can dispel that illusion." Yu then remembered he still has the Orb of Clarity. "The time has come for you to use this," Kyuubi said, "Let me supercharge it for you." Making a series of hand symbols, he glowed with bright red energy which then permeated the orb. Yu smiled, and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was once again standing before Izanami.

"'You survived? But how?'" "Your power isn't as strong as you think," Yu said, and he held up the Orb of Clarity. In an instant, Izanami disappeared in flash, only to be replaced by something far more grotesque. Izanami now looked like a decaying skeleton, giant in size with her hair now black and flowing. Yu narrowed his eyes at her, and took off his glasses. "I see. So this is your true form. Well Izanagi has a true form as well." Summoning his card, the card shot inside Yu's chest. Izanagi appeared and began to glow, transforming into a pure white humanoid with an appearance similar to his previous form, holding a giant sword with a massive ring for a hilt. "Behold," Yu said, "Izanagi-no-Okami!"

"'Big deal,'" Izanami said, "'You're still no match for my Thousand Curses!'" The dark portal appeared beneath Yu, but he merely stepped of it without being affected. "'Impossible... How can the small number of people you've helped possibly be stronger than the will of the world?'" "Those people represent the will of the world Izanami," Yu said, "And for every lie you tell, I will counter with ten truths. So now it's time for you to fall before my Myriad Truths!" Izanagi-no-Okami spun his sword in a circle, creating a ring of glowing energy. The energy shot out and struck Izanami, causing her to disintegrate. "'I see. I viewed the world through too few eyes. In the end, the one I was lying to more than anyone was myself. So be it, I will no longer interfere. What future lies before you I do not know, but it yours to make yourself.'" She vanished completely, and everything went white.

When the light faded, Yu found himself in a vast plain overlooking a landscape filled with mountains, forest, lakes, and rivers. As he looked around, he saw his friends alive and well. "Yosuke! Chie! Light! Rise! Kanji! Naoto! Teddie! Labrys! Yukiko!" At the sound of their names, the gang got up. When Yukiko saw Yu, she smiled and ran to embrace him. "You did it... We're okay." "Wow, look at this place," Labrys said she surveyed the scene, "This is one heck of a view." Naoto gazed at it. "This must be what Teddie's world really looks like." Teddie was jumping for joy. "It's back. My world is back to normal. Now all the shadows will go back to being peaceful again." The gang looked out toward the horizon. "It really is over this time," Yukiko said, "Isn't it?" Yu nodded. "This time for sure."

After returning to the real world, Yu got a call on his cell. It was his parents, who first asked him if had made any friends while in Inaba. When he told them about the all the friends he had made, and his relationship with Yukiko, what his parents said next made him smile with delight. "Guys!," he said, "My parents just said I could stay here in Inaba!" Yukiko smiled happily and hugged Yu. "That's wonderful. Now you don't have to leave." "Guess this mean the gang's staying together," Yosuke said. Yu nodded. "After what we just went through, I feel like nothing could ever tear us apart." Light smiled. 'A whole year spending time with these people has opened my eyes. How Izanami acted is no different from how Kira acted. And I actually wanted to reign as a god? No more. If this be godhood, I reject it. I'll stay the way I am, and change the world as only a human can."

Several months later, at Light's high school, a student found something that had dropped on the ground. Picking it up, he saw it was a thin black notebook. He noted the words on the front cover. "'Death Note', huh? I wonder what this is about." He opened up the notebook and saw there was more writing inside the front cover. "'The human whose name is written in the notebook shall die'. Is this some sort of prank?" He looked around, then stuffed the notebook into his bag. "I guess it couldn't hurt to take it home and examine it further." And with that, he walked off.

The End...?

That's right folks! The Death Note is back in play! Even before I started writing this story, I knew I was gonna make a sequel. And if you thought Adachi was a hard man to pin down, wait until the Inaba Investigation Team goes head-to-head with Kira. Your favorite characters from Death Note will be there, and now that Light is no longer Kira, things are gonna be a little different. So keep your eyes peeled, I Reject It, the sequel to If This Be Godhood, is coming soon!